Into The Past
by Taylor Hatake
Summary: Taylor Hatake gets sent into the past, where she meets her great-grandfather Coushander Hatake. Coushander, Dalzen, and Kano belongs to Kariko Emma and Taylor Hatake belongs to well... Taylor Hatake (Me)
1. Lost In The Echo

Just written for fun.

For Caliko, for her kindness towards me and for accepting me for who I am. Thank you!

Taylor belongs to me, Kakashi and any other Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto, and Coushander and any other random characters belong to Kariko Emma = )

* * *

Part One

.

Lost In The Echo

.

Taylor threw a punch at the Grass ninja.

"Never ever come on to Leaf Village soil again!" she exclaimed.

The young Grass ninja smirked at the young Hatake.

"You can't stop me," he said, suddenly disappearing.

The sky grew dark. While there was still some light, she glanced at the cut on her arm, which had blood gushing out of it. With nothing to stop the bleeding, for her clothes were dirty with dirt and germs and blood that was not her own, she carried on back to the village. Her first and only thought was to get back home to her father. The cool, autumn air sent chills through Taylor's back and she started shivering. Taylor grabbed her arms and allowed herself to shiver. Thunder rumbled in the distance, telling her she needed to hurry.

She let her tired legs carry her back to the village. As she approached it, something felt odd and made her shiver even more. She felt cold too. Did she wear her jacket? Nope. She clenched her first and cursed herself. _Damnit! _How stupid of her to forget her jacket. When she got home, she was sure her father was going to fix her a cup of hot cocoa and her grandfather was going to start on supper for them. She could only hope, right?

The odd feeling grew and made her stomach churn. Perhaps it was just the searing pain in her arm that was making her imagine things. Or perhaps she's right.

Whatever it was, Taylor was unable to place it. And because she couldn't place it, it made her feel uneasy.

It began drizzling, creating a mist around her. She had to squint to see. Also, it was getting darker and darker and the thunder grew louder and louder. It was pretty hard to see without a lantern, even with the lights from the buildings around her. Taylor stopped and yanked her backpack off her back and pulled out a lantern with the kanji for "Hatake" on it. Silently, she lit the lantern and slung her backpack over her shoulder. With her tired arm, she lifted the lantern.

She waved the lantern around to get an idea of where she was. She looked in the direction of her house and saw two men; one with light grey, messy hair and the other with shoulder-length, black hair. Taylor thought she'd recognized the first man. He looked like her father from behind, until she got a closer look at him. His hair was tied back and it was long. She thought it was her grandfather then.

"Grandpa Sakumo?" she called.

The grey haired man and the black-haired man both stopped walking. Coushander Hatake was pretty sure it was aimed at him, so he turned around to face the girl, twenty feet away from him. Dalzen Morino did the same.

"And who might you be?" Cou asked.

Taylor stumbled over to him.

"Grandpa, its me, Taylor," she said. "Is there that much dirt on my face?"

She wiped her face on her good arm and didn't see as much dirt as she'd thought. Maybe the dirt was dried onto her face

"Aa, there isn't much dirt on your face," Dalzen said. "Maybe a bit here and there..."

"Dalzen," Cou said.

"What? I'm just reassuring her," Dalzen said.

Taylor realized Coushander's voice was much deeper than her grandpa's. Or was her grandfather's voice as deep... She couldn't remember to save her life now could she? And he grandfather didn't wear a robe.

"I'm not your grandfather," Coushander said. "You've got the wrong person."

She was also sure it wasn't Pervy Sage. He was dead. Unless she's starting to see ghosts...

"Oh and miss, I would have that cut on your arm checked out," Dalzen said.

She clutched the lantern and Cou nodded a bit.

"Indeed," he said. "You really should have that checked out."

She glanced at her scrawny arm.

"I'll get my father to fix it then," she said, walking in the direction of her house.

Coushander watched her, heading toward his house.

"Isn't that the same direction as your house?" Dalzen asked.

"Maybe she lives close to me," Cou said.

They followed the strange girl to the house. Blood continued gushing from her arm, making her weak and dizzy. How much blood has she lost already? Could she have lost enough to render her unconscious? She didn't want to know and picked up the pace, soon breaking into a sprint. As soon as she was at her house, she dug out her key from her pocket. Heavily, she panted and she gripped the pants where her knees were. Hunched over, her heart raced, causing the blood to gush out even faster. Everything around her began to spin and she ended up dropping her lantern without meaning to.

"Daddy," she called in hopes he could hear her cry. "Shit… I need... help...!"

"Shit…," she murmured before the world around her went dark and she began to collapse. All she could think about was her father dragging her inside into the warmth.

The world around her went dark and Coushander watched in horror as she began to collapse. In a flash, Dalzen got behind her and caught her before she fell down all the way. Then, they sat on the ground. He grabbed the long cut on her arm. What in the hell was she doing that caused her to get a cut like that? That was the only question Dalzen had in mind. Though, from the looks of her, she's a shinobi.

He knew that pressure needed to be applied to stop the bleeding, but what did he need? He looked down. He could use the vest, but how could they hold the girl and still keep it tightly wound around her arm?

"Okay, Coushander, bring me something that will stop the bleeding! Anything!" Dalzen exclaimed.

Quickly, Kano opened the front door and glanced at them uneasily.

"What on earth is going on here?" she asked, looking at the strange girl.

Coushander brushed past Dalzen and Taylor to Kano

"We need something to stop the bleeding. Do we have anything to use to stop the bleeding?" Coushander asked his wife.

"Something!" Dalzen exclaimed. "As long as it can stop the bleeding."

"Duct tape! Do you guys have duct tape?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure we have duct tape," Coushander said.

"Go get it," Dalzen said. "Kano, get your medical kit ready."

Kano and Cou nodded and went to do their thing. Cou came back with a roll of duct tape that was mostly used.

"Geez, what have you been fixing with this?" Dalzen said, taking the roll.

"Uhmmmm...," Coushander shrugged.

"Its a rhetorical question, Cou," Dalzen wrapped the tape tightly around his vest, which was wrapped tightly around the girl's arm.

He set the roll down and then scooped up the unconscious girl.

"Bring the girl into the guest room," Kano yelled out to the men.

"Right...," Dalzen and Coushander muttered.

Dalzen carried the girl inside and brought her into the guest room for Kano and Coushander followed him. Carefully, he laid her on the bed. Kano tied her hair back.

"You two, out now," she said.

"Why?" Coushander asked.

Kano shot him a glare.

"That shirt of hers needs to come off," she said. "I'm going to wash it. Do you not see the blood on her shirt?"

"I do see the blood," Coushander murmured.

"Out," Kano said.

"Yes, Keiko...," Coushander said.

"Yes Keiko...," Dalzen said.

Both men walked out and closed the door behind them. Silently, Kano cut the duct tape off and unknotted Dalzen's vest. _And I'll wash his vest as well as her shirt..._, Kano thought, putting the vest aside. Then, she began to pull the girl's over-sized shirt off. The shirt was practically a short dress on Taylor. Slowly, she pulled the shirt up past her bust and that's when she knew why her shirt was oversized on her. Kano didn't know what to think, Taylor's bust was pretty large for her age (Kano guessed she was a teen, judging from her proportions). Kano looked at the shirt she'd brought for the girl to wear and knew she wouldn't fit it because of her bust size. One of Coushander's shirts would have to suffice. But, that wasn't necessary at the moment. What was necessary was fixing up Taylor's arm.

Kano pulled the shirt off and set it beside Dalzen's vest and glanced at the long cut on her right arm. _Hmmm..._, Kano thought. _She'll need some stitches but first thing's first, clean the blood off her arm. _Silently, she cleaned the blood off her arm with a damp washcloth and then began to stitch the cut closed.

Kano sighed a bit. _That is a nasty cut and that is really going to leave a scar._

She finally finished five minutes later and then she taped up her arm. Every time Kano glanced at the girl's hair, she couldn't help but think that Taylor was a Hatake like Coushander. The Hatake hair. Grey and quite messy, as if they have a natural bed-head that could never be brushed to look nice and normal. But Kano also thought that it was impossible that she could be related to Coushander. Saru-Shin had no kids, Coushander only had a brother, and Sakumo was their only child, but even then he wasn't living with them. So who was she? When Taylor woke up, they would find the answer to that question.

Kano finished taping up Taylor's arm and then opened the door.

"Coushander," Kano called.

"Yes Keiko?" Coushander asked.

"Can the girl wear one of your shirts?" she asked nervously.

"Uhhh why?"

"Because...," Kano thought for a moment. "Lets just say she needs to wear a shirt the size of yours."

"I guess so...," Coushander said.

Kano smiled a bit and then dashed out to their room and pulled one of Coushander's shirts off its hanger, then dashed back to the guest room where Taylor laid unconscious on the bed. Carefully, Kano put Taylor's head through the collar first, then pulled her arms into the sleeves and then covered the rest of her with the shirt. She smiled a bit and then draped a blanket over Taylor. Then she noticed the backpack that she'd pulled off her back. Kano shook her head a bit because it was tempting to go through it and try to find something that gave a clue as to who Taylor was. Silently, she picked up the dirty shirt and vest, then left the room and closed the door behind her.

Thunder rumbled outside the house and they could hear the rain pound against the house.

"Hey Dalzen," Kano said. "Its raining pretty hard outside and its dark, you should stay here for the night."

Dalzen nodded in agreement.

"I was thinking about that," he said. "Thank you, Keiko."

Kano glanced at the time.

"I think it's about time to make supper," she said noticing it was only six-thirty in the evening. "Well then, I'll start on supper."

.

Sakumo held onto the counter-top, trying to keep pressure off his injured foot while he cooked.

"Where in the hell is Taylor...," he said half to himself, looking at the time. "She's never late."

He stirred the pot of udon, feeling pretty worried.

"I hope she's alright," he sighed.

Kakashi walked down the stairs slowly, listening to his rather ramble on to himself.

"Oi, Father what are you talking about," he asked.

"Your daughter is late," he exclaimed. "Its past her curfew. You better hope she hasn't picked up on your bad habits because I will beat them out of you both!"

His response sent chills down his son's spine. He shook his head.

"Oh man," Kakashi said. "I should go look for her right away!"

"Kakashi, dinner is almost done," Sakumo said. "Do you really think I will let you out before dinner and before a storm? Think again."

Kakashi sweated a bit in fear of his own father.

"Alright, alright. Geez Dad...," he said. _Man you're scary at times. Sheesh._

"If she doesn't come home by tomorrow, we'll go looking for her," Sakumo said, trying to stay calm.

Kakashi nodded nervously.

"Yes Father," he said.

He sighed a bit. Somedays, Kakashi felt like a child because of the way his father scolds him. But then, he remembers he has his own child and feels like an adult again. It sucks living with his father, but he can't imagine leaving his father. No matter what, he's going to live with his father with his daughter. He was scared his father would commit suicide again, even though Sakumo promised not to. Perhaps, it was just better that he and Taylor live with Sakumo.

.

"Dalzen, if you don't mind, could you watch over Taylor?" Kano asked before they prepared for bed. "Its not that I don't trust her, its just someone needs to be there when she wakes up."

Dalzen nodded.

"Of course," he said. "I don't mind at all Kano."

She smiled.

"Thanks."

Dalzen nodded again and went into the guest room. There, Taylor was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Dalzen took a seat on a chair. There was room to put together another bed, so Kano came in and went into the closet and pulled out a futon for him to sleep on and set it up.

"So you can sleep," she said. Then added, "comfortably," and then chuckled a bit.

Dalzen chuckled a bit as well.

"Ah, thank you Kano," he said.

Kano smiled as she placed a pillow and a blanket on the futon.

"Alright," she said. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

Dalzen nodded.

"Right," he said.

Kano bowed and left the room.

Dalzen looked at the time, which it was about ten. He felt kinda tired so he allowed himself to lay down on the futon. Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Taylor woke up before Dalzen. Something felt strange, and she her keen sense of smell found an unfamiliar scent. Silently, she forced herself to sit up and she glanced down at Dalzen. _Who is he,_ she thought. Dalzen slept peacefully on the futon Kano laid out for him. _And where am I? Am I home? No, I can't be home. Daddy doesn't know anyone that looks like this strange man._ She pulled her arm close to her and flinched at the pain.

"_Itai_!" she exclaimed under her breath.

Weakly, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Cautiously and silently, she tiptoed her way around Dalzen who was still asleep. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees with a loud thump on the floor and breathed in sharply. She was dizzy and couldn't walk properly without falling. Taylor looked over at Dalzen, who just woke up._Shit_, she cursed in her mind. Silently, Dalzen sat up and stretched a bit, then looked at Taylor.

"You're awake now, hm?" he asked.

Taylor looked away quickly and clenched her hands, which rested on her knees.

"Who are you," she whispered.

Dalzen smirked a bit.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he said.

"You tell me your name first," Taylor said. "Then I'll tell mine."

"The name's Dalzen Morino," he said. "Now yours?"

"Taylor," she said. "Taylor Hatake."

"Hatake?" Dalzen asked.

Taylor looked at him.

"Why are you surprised?"

Dalzen shook his head.

"No, you can't be a Hatake," he said.

"I am," she said. "My father is Kakashi Hatake, my grandfather; Sakumotsu Hatake."

"Sakumotsu?" Dalzen said. "But he's only 8."

"_Sakumo_ is 53," Taylor emphasized.

"He's 8."

Taylor gasped a bit, looking back down at her hands. Could she have been sent into the past?

"No... Time travel is impossible," she thought out loud. "I can't be in the past."

Dalzen felt a surge of pure confusion go through him.

"No, you can't be from the future," he said, shaking his head.

Taylor gripped her pant legs at her knees.

"But, I must be," she said. "Current Hokage?"

"Tobirama," Dalzen said.

"The Second Hokage," Taylor said in surprise. "But... Tsunade is the... She's the current Hokage in my timeline. Fifth Hokage. I am from the future."

Taylor sighed heavily.

"My father and I haven't even been born yet," she murmured. "I think he was born around the time of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi and I was born twenty years later in the same time with the Third Hokage..."

Tears streamed down her face.

"Now what am I going to do? I'm stuck in the past with no escape!" she cried.

Dalzen didn't know what to do or say. _Geez, she's quick to cry now isn't she_, he thought.

"Is everything okay in here?" Kano asked, sliding the door to the room open.

Taylor's face was buried in the palms over her hands as she cried.

"Ah, I just found out who she is and where she came from," Dalzen said. "But you're probably not going to believe it."

"Try me."

"Her name is Taylor Hatake and apparently she comes from the future. I'm still trying to figure that out…"

Kano folded her arms.

"The future? A Hatake?"

Dalzen nodded.

"And now she's crying because she doesn't know what to do and is stuck here with no escape."

Kano bent down in front of Taylor.

"Taylor, calm down," she said soothingly. Silently, she rubbed the girl's back. "Its okay."

She looked up, noticing another voice.

"Who are you?" she whimpered.

"I'm Kano, though you'll hear my husband call me Keiko." Kano said.

Taylor shook as she tried to hold in a sob.

"T-Taylor... H-Hatake," she whimpered.

Kano nodded and smiled a bit.

"Don't worry," she said. "You can stay here with Coushander and I."

Taylor nodded, trying to stop crying. Kano patted her head.

"I've made breakfast," she said. "You two should come and eat."

Dalzen and Taylor nodded.

"Right," Dalzen said.

"Yes ma'am," Taylor whispered.

Kano helped Taylor stand up and Dalzen stood up. Then they followed Kano into the kitchen. Taylor wiped her tears on the shirt she was wearing, suddenly realizing it was not her own.

"Where's my shirt?" she asked softly.

"In the wash," Kano said. "You're wearing Coushander's shirt."

Taylor nodded.

"I-I see...," she said.

"Now, you two go fix your plates while I go get Coushander." Kano said.

They nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

Both of them made their plates and sat down and ate while Kano got Coushander out of bed. Taylor avoided eye-contact with Dalzen as she ate, only because she thought he thought she was weak and because she was never good at keeping eye-contact with anyone. Kano returned with Cou and then both of them began to eat.


	2. Don't Forget

.

Don't Forget

.

Sakumo woke up before Kakashi. As soon as he was coherent enough, he jumped out of bed and limped to Taylor's room. The door was open, which she never leaves the door open when she's in bed, asleep. The room was empty and had an unsettling silence and feeling to the room. He looked around. No sign of her at all. Even her scent had gone cold. Unsettled, Sakumo sped back to his room and put on his uniform and a jacket overtop his shirt and under his vest. Then, he headed out to the village.

The autumn air was cool and crisp and smelled like... well autumn. The fantastic smell of spices like cinnamon put together with pumpkins made Sakumo practically drool. He could even smell some of the wheat he'd grown himself. For a moment, he'd forgotten his purpose for going out, until he saw the Hokage, Tsunade Senju. Then, he'd snapped out of his fantasies of making some breakfast with cinnamon and with the wheat he'd kept to himself. Sakumo speed-limped over to Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade," he said. "Lady Tsunade, Taylor's missing."

Tsunade turned to Sakumo.

"Who is Taylor?" she asked.

"My granddaughter? Taylor Hatake?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"You don't have a granddaughter," she said. "You only have a son, Kakashi Hatake."

"You mean, you have forgotten Taylor?" Sakumo said, surprised.

"There is no record of a Taylor Hatake," Tsunade said.

Sakumo felt his stomach churn and he felt sick to his stomach.

"Uhmmm, I've gotta go then. Sorry I bothered you Lady Tsunade," Sakumo bowed and dashed off.

Tsunade watched him, lost in wonder of how he came up with a name of "Taylor", then she shook her head and went back to what she was doing.

_How could she have forgotten Taylor_? It made no sense to Sakumo whatsoever. He went to every person who knew Taylor. Almost all of them forgot about her. Except one... Kiiro Oshiro, the owner of the Kiiro's Art Store in the Leaf. Taylor went there often, so Kiiro would know her well. Kiiro was just approaching the store to open it up and Sakumo scurried over to her.

"Kiiro!" Sakumo exclaimed. "Kiiro, have you seen Taylor at all?"

She looked at him and shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen her since Friday when she came to get a new sketchbook," she said. "What's happened to her?"

"She's missing, I'm afraid," Sakumo said.

Kiiro pulled out the key to the store.

"Wait, how come you're the only one who remembers Taylor besides Kakashi and I?" Sakumo asked, surprised.

"Because, if this is a jutsu that is making people loose their memory of Taylor, it does not affect me at all." Kiiro put the key into the door and unlocked it. "You and Kakashi can remember her because you two see her everyday and she's on your minds 24/7."

Sakumo looked down as he followed Kiiro into the store.

"That does make sense and you are great at deflecting jutsus like that," he said.

Kiiro sat her bag down when she got behind the counter.

"What should we do, Kiiro?" Sakumo asked.

"White Fang, you know what y'all ought to do," Kiiro said. "Keep looking for her and cling onto the memories of her. She's got to be around here somewhere."

Sakumo nodded.

"You're right," he said "I should get Kakashi so we can keep looking."

"I suggest searching for her at dawn and dusk. If she's lost or escaping someone, she'll be running at only those times," she continued. "And remember to cling on to the memories of her. I suggest writing her name down on sticky notes and post them around the house so you're constantly reminded of her."

Sakumo nodded.

"We'll take your advice, Kiiro. Thank you," he said.

Kiiro smiled.

"You're welcome, Fang."

.

After breakfast, Taylor helped clear off the table for Kano. She was slightly surprised by the girl's actions, but she didn't say anything. She was quite thankful. When they finished clearing off the table, she turned to her.

"Thank you for your help," she said, smiling. "But I can take it from here. You shouldn't over-exert yourself. You've probably lost a lot of blood from that wound on your arm."

"A wound...?"

Taylor uncovered the arm that hurt. There was a long scar going from just above her elbow to her wrist. Oh yeah, she had to have known that. She's the clumsiest person she knows.

"How much did I lose?"

"I'm uncertain, but it was enough to knock you out. Perhaps if you didn't run like you did, you wouldn't have caused more blood to gush out," Kano said, folding her arms.

Taylor looked down.

"I thought if I could get to my father, he could wrap my arm up tightly enough to stop the bleeding...," she said. "Though, I would've done that myself if my clothes weren't so dirty. I should've noticed right away I would see neither my father nor my grandfather... But the past looks so much like the present, I guess it was hard to tell…"

Kano nodded. Taylor folded her arms.

"I'm so clumsy," she sighed, rubbing her arm.

"So, what should we do with her?" Cou asked.

"I'll go talk to Nidaime," Dalzen offered. "Get his opinion on this matter...?"

Coushander nodded.

"Sounds like a good idea," he said.

Taylor folded her arms.

"What do I get to do?" she asked.

"Rest," both Kano and Coushander said at once.

Taylor let one arm drop, as if she found it slightly funny.

"Man," she said. "Y'all sound like my grandpa..."

She smiled a bit.

"I can probably get used to this," she said.

"I'll be back," Dalzen said, leaving.

Coushander turned to Taylor.

"Go sit down, you two," Kano said. "Perhaps talk to each other?"

They nodded and she and Coushander sat down. Kano smiled and went to tend to the dishes. The eldest Hatake and the third second (if you count Taylor in this timeline) sat in silence for three minutes. Taylor stared out the living room window, watching a cat stalk a bird.

"So, Taylor...," Cou said to break the silence and ease the tension. "tell me about yourself."

She glanced at him, then looked down.

"I don't know what to tell," she said.

"Perhaps your hobbies?"

"Well, I like to draw," she started, the trailed off.

"Draw what?"

"Basically, the only thing I can draw; people," she said.

Taylor sighed a bit.

"But I guess I can draw landscapes as well."

Coushander nodded.

"I see...," he said. "Any more hobbies?"

"I guess I like to write stories, sci-fi in particular. I also enjoy reading mangas."

She tried to smile.

"I also like to help Grandpa out in the fields," Taylor said. "Every morning in the autumn time, he'd wake Daddy and I up whether we liked it or not and we'd spend the morning gathering up as many bundles of wheat as we could. After we got enough for the day, we'd bring them to the market to be sold. It's by mid-October that we'd be done in the field, since we start harvesting at the beginning of October."

She sighed a bit, but happily.

"We'd keep about four bundles for Grandpa to make his delicious cinnamon bread. It's very yummy and easy to make, if you know how to make regular bread. It's the same recipe but add three cups of cinnamon and four cups of sugar. It is delicious."

She wiped away a stray tear from her eye and snapped out of her thoughts.

"I digress," Taylor said. "A bit, I think."

Coushander smiled a bit.

"No, no. I'd like to hear more," he said.

"A-Ah, alright," Taylor said. "But I don't think there's really more to tell."

"You haven't mentioned a mother or a grandmother," he said.

"They're both dead," she said. "I never knew either of them. My grandmother died when my father was two or three, and my mother died giving birth to me... I just live with my father and grandfather."

"I see..."

Coushander thought for a moment.

"How is... Sakumo...?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is he happy?"

She nodded.

"Very happy," Taylor said. "He loves his life and loves Daddy and I."

She let out a sad sigh.

"I'm sure they're worried and scared for me at the moment, though. I'm also sure they're looking for me this very moment. I hope they're okay..."

Coushander didn't know how to reply. So, another few minutes of silence passed. About 10 minutes later, Dalzen came back with the Hokage. He knocked at the door and Coushander rose to his feet.

"I got it...," he said.

Silently, he walked over to the door and opened it. Standing at the door was Dalzen and Nidaime, and Coushander wasn't surprised one bit.

"Heya, Coushander," Dalzen said with a hint of nervousness. "I had to bring Nidaime back with me because... well, he requested to meet Taylor. Honestly, I don't blame his reasoning of, "I have to see it to believe it". We didn't believe that she was from the future until she told us that her grandfather was 53, that she was a Hatake, and that in her time there is a godaime."

Taylor glanced over at Nidaime and Dalzen, and then hid shyly behind the couch.

"Speaking of whom, where did she go?" Dalzen asked.

"On the couch," Cou said, looking at the couch only to see she wasn't there. "oh, she couldn't have run off far."

"I don't think she even ran off," Dalzen said. "Check behind the couch."

Coushander looked over the couch.

"She's there."

"I'm not behind the couch," Taylor grumbled. "No one sees me!"

"We can see you, Taylor," Dalzen said.

"Nuh-uh."

She sighed heavily and stood up. Certainly she is shy.

"Sorry, I'm shy," she said. "And… Some days I just refuse to meet more than a certain amount of people…"

Nidaime walked in to see her. Taylor stood straight.

"Good morning," he said to her.

She bowed respectfully.

"Good morning, sir," she said, rising.

"I suppose you are the Hatake?"

"Yes sir. Taylor Hatake."

Tobirama smiled.

"Wow, you've got some manners," he said. "I like that."

Taylor nodded.

"My father and grandfather taught me to use my manners, especially when talking to the Hokage."

"I must say, they have taught you quite well," he said.

Taylor nodded.

"Onto more important matters, though," Nidaime said. "If you are from the future, it is very imperative to get you back as soon as possible and figure out how to do so. Taylor, do you remember what brought you here?"

She shook her head slowly.

"No sir, I'm afraid not."

"Alright, just asking," he said. "Though this may take a while, say a month or so, but I'm going to attempt to find a way to send you back to your time. In the meantime, since Dalzen is convinced you are a chūnin at least, I will place you to train under him. Never hurts to get some training done, even in the past and without your own sensei."

Taylor nodded.

"Yes sir," she said, bowing. "Thank you sir."

He smiled a bit.

"Now, I've got lots of work to do," he said. "I shall see you guys when I see you."

They bowed and Tobirama left.

"Okay," Dalzen started. "I'm going to start your training tomorrow, Taylor. Kano says you need to rest - and I agree with her because you really look like you need the rest - so you need to do that. And now, I've got to go to the information ward. I shall see you tomorrow morning bright and early at eight a.m. right?"

Taylor sighed.

"Uhg, I hate getting up before ten," she grumbled.

"Hm?"

"I'll be awake when you get here," Taylor said.

Dalzen smiled.

"Great."

.

"So basically, we can not let Taylor out of our minds at all and we must search for her at dusk and dawn until we find her?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, that is exactly right," Sakumo said, handing Kakashi a thing of sticky notes. "And so we don't forget about her at all, we need to write her name down on these sticky notes and stick them around the house."

Kakashi nodded and took them.

"Alright."

"Lets do this, shall we?" Sakumo asked.

Kakashi nodded and grabbed a pen and wrote in kanji and katakana, "Hatake, Taylor" on the first sticky and stuck it to his night stand.

About thirty minutes later, they were done. There were stickies almost everywhere, from the bathroom to the kitchen.

"I don't think we'll forget her anytime soon," Kakashi chuckled.

"Nope," Sakumo said. "Now, I shall make breakfast."

"Yes please!" Kakashi exclaimed. "I'm starving!"

"I know you are son. So am I."


	3. Autumn Is Cold

.

Autumn is Cold

.

At about 9 at night, Taylor laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. The room was hers in the future, but felt so different.

As she stared up at the ceiling, she replayed a verse from a song her father sang to her with his soft, gentle voice. She clung to the sound of her father singing it. It replayed in her head until she began singing it out loud.

"_Unmei wo kimeru no wa__  
__Jibun no kokoro tatta hitotsu__  
__Hikikaesu basho nado nai sa__  
__Kono yo no doko ni mo_..."

It felt comforting to Taylor to hear it in her mind and sing it out loud. Odd, but that is how Taylor works.

Suddenly, as she sang, she heard what sounded like a whistle. Taylor glanced around the room, wondering who or what made that sound. Unfortunately, she did not see any one or anything in her room that could've made that whistle. Consequently, she dubbed it as her accidentally whistling while she sang. Taylor did happen to do that at times. A strange child she was...

Soon, she sat up in her bed and grabbed her backpack. Silently, she sifted through her bag until she found her plushies of her _otousan _and her _ojiisan_. They were about as old as she was. She's had them since she was about 6 months old because she'd always fret over one of them being gone. So, both Kakashi and Sakumo both decided to get her a plush doll of them both.

She never fretted over either one of them being gone again. Everywhere she went, the plushies went with her. Even to school, though she somewhat regretted that because all the kids picked on her about it. Kakashi had told her to keep the dolls home and that they would be safe there with him and Sakumo. Believing her father with much reluctance, Taylor left them at home. When she became a ninja though, she brought them with her to training and missions.

Even at her current age of twelve, she still brought her plushies with her. They brought her comfort for some reason. Kakashi shrugged when he noticed it and thought,_whatever makes her happy_.

Letting out a soft sigh, Taylor hugged them.

"Daddy, Grandpa, please don't worry," she whispered.

She laid back down on her bed and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard the whistling again; only this time she knew it was more than one note. She listened to it, and then it went from whistling to singing. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but she could defiantly tell that it was in Japanese, but no song she'd heard of before. What could've it been? And has she begun to lose her mind? She didn't have one to begin with, so is she hallucinating things? Taylor groaned and put her hands on her face.

"Stop singing," she groaned. "Whoever or whatever is doing this..."

She damn well knew it wasn't Coushander or Dalzen.

It stopped.

It just stopped. There had to be someone there in the room, but where? They couldn't be under the bed because she'd know that. There was no one in the closet, and she knew that because it's still open. Taylor laughed at herself. She had to have been imagining things. No one there. Surely, she had to have been going mad.

Ryouma looked at the girl lying on the bed, laughing at her self. What was she laughing at? And did she actually hear him singing? She had to have heard him singing if she told him to stop. Ryouma studied the girl. She resembled Coushander so much that at first he thought she was him._ Coushander? _He looked for signs to prove that it wasn't Coushander and found one. Coushander wasn't a girl, so that wasn't him. Who was the girl? The girl suddenly shoved her stuffed dolls under the bedsheets and looked up. Suddenly, he looked behind him and saw Coushander opening the door. He listened and waited for him to say her name.

"Taylor, are you okay?" he asked, having heard her laughing at herself.

Taylor? Interesting name. But, Taylor who?

She looked up.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," she grinned. "Sorry, I am thinking I've gone mad."

"I can see that," he said. "You should probably go to sleep... Don't want to be too tired when I wake you up in the morning now do you?"

"Right...," she pulled the covers over herself. "Night, Cou..."

"Night Hatake, Taylor...," he closed the door.

Ryouma watched silently as Taylor fell asleep. He sat on the desk by the bed and began singing, but softly this time so he wouldn't wake her up. Then, he began to ponder how she was a Hatake, but he'd never seen her before now. He knew of Coushander's first and only kid, Sakumo, but not this girl. Could she be...? _No_, he thought. _She can't be..._

.

Sakumo watched as Natsu and Fuyu returned.

"Well?"

"No sign of Taylor," Natsu said.

Fuyu shook her head and Sakumo sighed.

"She's got to be around here somewhere...," he whispered.

"I'm sorry Sakumo," Fuyu said.

"I wish I knew where she was at," Natsu said. "I can't even summon myself to her or reverse summon her. It's so weird..."

Sakumo folded his arms and nodded.

"Thank you," he said in his strained, I'm-not-trying-to-sound-worried-or-upset voice. "You two can go now..."

Fuyu and Natsu nodded and desummoned themselves. Kakashi walked over, holding his arms as if to try and keep himself warm.

"None of my dogs could find her," he said, watching his breath freeze in the chilly autumn air.

"Neither could Fuyu or Natsu," Sakumo said.

He watched as clouds began to form over the sky and then put his hand on Kakashi's back.

"Lets head back son...," he sighed.

"Yeah..."

So, they hopped up in a tree and headed back into the village.

.

It was seven-fifteen in the morning when Coushander woke Taylor up.

"Ehhh? I don't wanna get up...," she groaned.

"Dalzen is gonna be here to get you at 8, so you have 45 minutes to get dressed and eat. Kano's still working at the bloodstains on your shirt, so you're going to have to wear one of my shirts and here," he handed her a pair of indigo pants on top of his shirt. "Kano left these for you."

Sleepily, Taylor sat up in her bed and sighed tiredly.

"So tired," she murmured softly, rubbing her eyes.

Coushander watched as Taylor took the pants and the shirt from him.

"Perhaps we can get you new clothes for while you stay here, since I'm pretty sure you didn't bring any extras."

Taylor chuckled softly and tiredly, then nodded.

"Yeah..." she said. "Alright..."

"Now get dressed."

"Yes sir..."

Coushander closed the door and left Taylor alone to change. She switched into the clothes Coushander handed her and looked around. In her time, she always would set a pile of dirty clothes by her door and would take them to the laundry room before the pile got very high. But, she wasn't sure if she should do that, but she did anyway.

Then, silently she headed out of her room and to the bathroom. She brought her own brush, so she brushed her hair with that in the bathroom. Then, she splashed cold water onto her face to wake herself up some more. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a man who looked almost exactly like Coushander. She jumped and turned around only to find the man was gone. A cold chill made its way down her spine and made her shiver.

"I must be going mad," she said, drying her face off.

Rubbing her head, she walked out of the bathroom to the living room, only to find a distracted Coushander staring out the window. The shy girl walked up to the eldest and stood on her toes to tap his shoulder.

"Coushander?" she asked, glancing at his face.

Suddenly, she saw Sakumo instead of Coushander. No, that wasn't Sakumo. That was the same man she'd seen in the mirror. Startled, Taylor jumped backwards and tripped backwards onto the couch.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, holding her head so she didn't hit it too hard.

Coushander then looked at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Uhh...," she racked her brain for excuses. Then, she glanced out the window and found a cat eating a mouse. "I um, watched that cat eat that mouse. That was kinda creepy."

Coushander looked out the window at the cat, who had some blood on its muzzle. Then, he looked back at Taylor and narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't believe her.

"Hmm..." He wondered if she'd just lied to him.

Taylor quickly shook her head, wondering why she thought Coushander was that man she'd saw not too long ago. Damned if she knew.

"You look distracted," she said.

"I'm distracted quite easily," the elder said.

Now didn't that sound familiar to Taylor?

"So am I," she admitted with a quiet voice. "I'm almost always staring at something because I get distracted by it."

Cou nodded.

"Oh my, I should start on breakfast shouldn't I?" he felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. "Sorry."

He ran over to the kitchen.

"Uhm, is miso and rice okay?"

Taylor nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Okay, give me ten minutes then."

"Alright..."

Taylor dashed to her room and grabbed her sketchbook and her pencil. Then, she dashed back to the living room and sat down on the couch and began to draw the strange man. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember exactly what he looked like, so the best she could do was a man who looked almost exactly like her father, minus the scar, the sharingan, and the aloof expression. As soon as she'd finished the sketch, it was time for breakfast. She sat it on the couch and walked over to the kitchen. She fixed herself a bowl of miso and rice and then sat down at the table. When Coushander sat down, they both began to eat.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked, reluctant to talk but knew he should ask anyway.

"Better than yesterday...," she replied, rubbing her arm gingerly.

"I see..."

After that, they ate in silence up and didn't finish eating until five minutes to eight. When they finished, Taylor put her bowl in the sink and dashed to her room. She slipped her sandals on and tied her hair back with her red hair tie. Then, she grabbed her backpack and shoved her dolls in there. As long as she knew they were there, she was okay. She walked out to the living room to get her sketchbook. But, before she could, Coushander had it in his hands. He looked at it, somewhat impressed with what she can do.

"You drew this?" he asked.

Taylor looked up with her shy, blue eyes and nodded slowly.

"Y-Yeah."

"Very good...," he said. "Whoever this person is, he looks a lot like someone I know..."

"Yeah, that's my father. I uhmm... have a few things to add though," she said. "I'll do it later though..."

"Mm..."

Taylor thought to herself,_ could I have actually seen my father? But, I didn't see a scar on the man. Or a mask for that matter. Or a forehead protector. My mind must be playing tricks on me. _Coushander handed her a bento box and Taylor glanced at him in confusion.

"What? I can't be nice to my great-granddaughter from the future?"

Taylor narrowed her eyes, then closed them and shook her head, smiling a bit.

"Th-Thanks...," she said. Though, she didn't think Coushander was the kind of man to make bento boxes for strange kids like her. Or even for his own son for that matter. She wasn't sure why he would do that, but guessed he didn't know what to do so he did what came to mind.

At that moment, they heard Dalzen knocking at the door.

"That must be Dalzen...," he said.

He walked over and answered the door. Of course, he was right.

"Good morning, Coushander," Dalzen said, smiling. He peered inside and saw Taylor.

She scratched her head.

"Morning, Taylor-Chan."

"Morning...," she yawned.

Dalzen smiled.

"Come on, lets see what I can do to help with your training, if anything at all," he gestured for her to follow him.

Taylor nodded shyly and followed Dalzen. Coushander waved to Taylor and closed the door behind them. He glanced at the picture Taylor drew. Could she be drawing Ryouma or is she really drawing her father? If that is her father, he has a scary resemblance of his brother. Closing his eyes, he shook his head. _Nah, nah that's her father. He doesn't have the red marks at the corner of his eyes. But man, he does resemble Ryouma a lot..._ A pang of guilt washed over Coushander and he felt slightly sick to his stomach. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes tightly. _Damn it Aniki, why wasn't it me instead?_ He rubbed his forehead in annoyance and clenched his teeth. After a few minutes of managing to keep himself calm, he walked back to his room to allow himself some more sleep.

Dalzen glanced at Taylor and wondered what was there to teach? What was her sensei teaching her? All he knew was genjutsu and a few basic earth techniques and substitution techniques. Maybe if she hasn't been taught genjutsu or can't do genjutsu very well, he could certainly help her for her sensei. Then, that made him wonder if he would know her sensei.

"Hey, Taylor," Dalzen started. "Who is your sensei, if you think I would know him or her?"

It couldn't be Sakumotsu, right?

"My grandfather is...," the twelve year-old said. "And I have no teammates. I was the only one from my class who graduated - And I was seven at the time, mind you - and my grandfather asked if he could train me so he got me on his team."

Alas, Dalzen was wrong about that.

"I see...," he said. "What has Sakumo taught you?"

She rubbed her arm and shrugged.

"All the basic stuff like climbing a tree without your hands and lightning techniques," she sighed. "He's tried teaching me genjutsu, but I could never manage it. Even my father tried. I'm hopeless with genjutsu..."

Dalzen looked at her.

"Aww...," he said. "Says who?"

"Says me," she said. "My father and grandfather couldn't get me to do genjutsu and no matter how much I tried, I could not do it."

"Perhaps they're not starting with the easy techniques," Dalzen said. "I can totally teach you."

Taylor glanced up and scoffed a bit.

"Yeah, good luck with that...," she said.

"Ah, don't worry," he said with a reassuring smile. "I am actually your grandfather's sensei. I've taught him genjutsu, teaching his granddaughter shouldn't be that hard."

Taylor frowned a bit, but nodded as they got to the training field.

"Alright, here's a basic genjutsu. Watch carefully."

Dalzen put his hands together in four hand signs; boar, tiger, dog, bird. At that moment, Taylor was locked in a genjutsu with... SPIDERS! Taylor watched in horror as the Dalzen in the genjutsu turned into a billion, tiny spiders. She covered her eyes with both her hands.

"It's just a dream," she told herself. "These spiders will just disappear... Disappear... Disappear..."

Dalzen smiled a bit, and allowed himself to go slightly overboard on the genjutsu. The spiders began to crawl up onto Taylor and she started trying to brush them off.

"EEEK!" she cried. "Get them off me!"

Grinning, Dalzen watched Taylor as she spun around as if she was dancing to get the spiders off. She brushed her arms and torso and legs off roughly.

"Oh my goodness," he said. "What in the hell is she doing? I bet that's her "Get these damn spiders off me" dance. Interesting dance moves, Miss Hatake."

"EEEK! Otousan, Otousan! Get them off me! Ojiisan! Ojiisan! Dalzen-Sama?"

Dalzen chuckled and then laughed a bit at her expression as she tried getting the spiders off. Humored, he continued to watch her until he decided it was time to pull her out of the genjutsu. Silently, he released the genjutsu for Taylor and he watched as she fell down, flat on her ass.

"S-Sorry," he chuckled. "I didn't know you were scared of spiders."

Taylor's cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"Seriously?"

"Sorry," he said, grinning.

He chuckled a bit as Taylor folded her arms in annoyance.

"My father would do a genjutsu almost exactly like that, but he would laugh anytime he managed to get me good," she whispered. "He'd say, 'Oh sorry Taylor, I forgot you're terrified of snakes and spiders.' and in retrospect, it was funny as hell, but it wasn't at that point in time."

She looked down sadly.

"I miss my otousan...," she whispered, feeling as though she will never see him again.

Dalzen felt a pang of guilt when he realized he made her think of her father. Fortunately, he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"I'm sorry," he said. "And stop worrying about not seeing your father and grandfather. You should be able to see them soon."

He smiled.

"And maybe show your grandpa what Great-Grand Uncle Dalzen taught you," he grinned, then looked down while chuckling. "That was a bit of a mouthful... Kinda. Great-Grand Uncle Dalzen... Wait, would I even be considered an uncle? I could kinda see it..."

Dalzen pondered that.

"I could be an uncle, just not blood-related..." he said.

Taylor rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "I got carried away with my thinking... Everyone kind of does that at times, I'm sure."

Taylor nodded.

"Come on, now try to do the jutsu on me," Dalzen said.

Taylor repeated what Dalzen did for the jutsu. Nothing.

"Damn," she grumbled.

"Try again."

Again, she attempted to do the jutsu. Nothing.

"Again."

Again, and still nothing.

Taylor began to lose patience with herself after the fifth attempt.

"Don't worry," Dalzen said. "Practice makes perfect."

"Its hopeless!" she cried. "If my father couldn't get me to do it, no one can..."

"Oh geez, don't be so hard on yourself," Dalzen said. "Now calm down."

Taylor tried to steady herself and breathe calmly. She tried again. This time, she managed to lock Dalzen into a genjutsu. It wasn't good, but it was good enough to show Taylor that she can actually do a genjutsu, with much practice. She did the same trick Dalzen pulled on her, except she used snakes instead of spiders. Dalzen grinned and released himself from the genjutsu.

"See? You can do it! It just takes practice!" he exclaimed with joy. "Now come on, try it again and this time, don't use anything that you're scared of. I could see you tense up before you transformed into the snakes."

She nodded and practiced until lunchtime.

.

Sakumo sat silently on his zabuton by his short desk and sighed softly. They'd been out looking for Taylor from 6:15 to 7:30 this morning and didn't catch any trace of the lost girl. He glanced at the picture frame on his desk that held a photo of him, his sensei Dalzen Morino, and his two teammates. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he sighed softly again.

"I wish Dalzen-Sensei was here... he'd help find Taylor with us... He wouldn't care what he was doing before I ask, he would immediately help me in a heartbeat," he whispered.

Sakumo leaned against his futon and groaned.

"I know Taylor can get lost quickly but she can get un-lost just as quickly. I sure hope she's okay..."

He frowned when his son walked in.

"How long does it take to wash your hair and scrub your body?"

"Sorry Dad," Kakashi said. "I don't know why, but my worry for Taylor has... kept me preoccupied... Its been making me feel... I don't know..."

"Sick? Like you are just going to burst out crying?"

"Yeah...," he said. "Basically."

He scratched his head.

"It sounds silly, doesn't it?" Kakashi asked.

"No, not at all," Sakumo smiled. "Its part of being a parent. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it my dear son."

"I guess you're right Dad," Kakashi said.

Sakumo stood up and put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"We will find Taylor," he whispered. "I promise, Kakashi. The White Fang never breaks his promises. Not anymore at the very least."

Kakashi smiled a bit, feeling reassured.

"Thanks Dad."

.

It began raining after lunch.

"Well that sucks," Dalzen said. "Can't do training in a storm now can we?"

Taylor shook her head.

"Nope..."

"Well, I guess I'll take you home before it gets wet. There's probably something Coushander has to do with you," Dalzen said, making a very good prediction that Cou had to take Taylor out for clothes.

"Alright then..."

Silently, they began to walk back towards the house.

"I'm surprised Cou didn't send you home with Kano." he said, talking to himself for the most part.

"Why do you say that?" Taylor asked.

He looked at the girl.

"Hmmm...," he said, not sure if he should tell her or her grandfather already did. "No particular reason." he assumed Sakumo had already told her.

Taylor stopped and watched as Dalzen kept walking. She wasn't quite sure why he said that, but she shrugged it off as him talking to himself. Before he could notice her not walking, she dashed back over to him and kept walking along side him. Suddenly, she felt a wave of excitement wash over her. As soon as she got home to her own time, she was going to show Kakashi and Sakumo that she has learned how to do a genjutsu. She smiled as she imagined Kakashi's reaction.

Perhaps her father would say, "That's great Taylor! I'm so proud of you!" and hug her.

Dalzen smiled as they approached the elder's house.

"I will see you tomorrow morning at nine," he said. "Unless its raining again. But, I might get you anyway."

He let out a wry chuckle, and Taylor did the same.

"Right...," she said.

Taylor noticed she'd warmed up to Dalzen rather quickly. She assumed it was because he was pretty nice to her.

She waved to Dalzen, who waved back. Silently, she turned around and opened the door.

.

Sakumo walked into Taylor's room and looked around. He looked at her stack of notebooks and opened one. He read it silently.

_Twenty_

_Thursday, February 2,_

_I fell asleep with my plushie Inoue (My nickname for the plushie doll version of Inoue Kazuhiko-Sama) in my arms last night. I really do love that doll._

He snapped the notebook closed, realizing that was her doomsday fanfic that she wasn't finished with yet (and won't be for another thirty chapters at the very least). A soft sigh escaped from his mouth and sat down on her bed.

"She could not have run away," he said. "She loves us too much and she wouldn't have left her notebooks..."

He looked out as the sun began to set. The sunset was completely orange, mostly because there was a light drizzle out going on outside. Taylor would've loved to see it.

"Oh Taylor...," he said. "Please come back or let us find you..."

He stood up and got ready to find his granddaughter.

.

Coushander made supper for them. Taylor just leaned against the counter with her arms crossed. A wry smile played across her lips.

"Y'know, you look like Grandpa Sakumo from behind," Taylor said. "But from the front you look like my dad."

"Oh really?" Coushander remarked in frivolous surprise. He wasn't sure if he cared or not.

"Yeah," Taylor nodded, ignoring the tone of the elder's voice. "I'm kinda the same way except instead of looking like either of them, I only look like one! I look exactly like Grandpa, but he doesn't have blue eyes or breasts... Or a some-what femmine appearance."

She paused for a moment.

"But for the longest time, I looked exactly like my dad, especially when he was a kid. My hair was shoulder-length like Dalzen's at that time and it was no surprise that everyone mistook me for my dad, even thought I was a lot shorter than him. Hell, I still am. But now that my hair is longer, I'm often mistaken for my grandfather."

She sighed a bit.

"I guess all Hatakes will look similar to one another in one way or the other as long as they've got silver or white, unruly hair."

Coushander chuckled a bit and said nothing except, "Alright, supper is done. Come get your bowl".

Taylor nodded and fixed herself a bow of Coushander's imoni soup. She sat down after she made her bowl and ate.


	4. Sweet Dreams

.

Sweet Dreams

.

That evening, after supper Coushander took the younger Hatake to the clothes store.

"Nidaime said it might be awhile before he can find or create a jutsu to send you back to your time," he said. "So that's why I thought to take you clothes shopping. You can't always be wearing my clothes... You're not a guy, so you have more clothes that you need than I, and I can not supply them for you. Neither could Kano from what she's told me about your bust..."

Coushander grunted a bit, as if he did not really want to say that but he knew he had to so he could get his point across.

"So, get as much as you can that will last until the end of the week until you need your clothes to be washed."

Taylor nodded.

"Right..."

She looked around for shirts similar to her own. To her surprise, none of the standard Konoha uniforms had the Uzumaki crests on the sleeves. Then, she realized that this was before Konoha made an alliance with the clan. Sighing, she grabbed seven pairs of black pants and seven indigo, long sleeve, turtleneck shirts. Then, she glanced around for underclothes. Coushander looked around, wondering if he needed a new robe. He looked down at the one he was wearing and shook his head. Nah, he'd be fine. No new holes in this one... _yet_. Taylor grabbed some underclothes and then headed up to the front. At least her closet in her time was half empty from some of her recent missions. Her father had planned to take her out to get more, but unfortunately he was unable to because of her getting lost in the past.

She turned around and faced Cou.

"I've got this," she said softly. "I've got the yen."

"Really?" Cou asked.

"Yeah." she said. "I usually carry my yen around."

She chuckled softly, and so did Coushander.

"Alright, if you say so," he said, allowing her to pay for her clothes.

Smiling, she walked over to the front and payed for her clothes.

"Good thing my closet back in my time is half-empty," she told Cou.

He nodded a bit as Taylor silently gathered her clothes in a bag. Silently, they started back to the house.

.

No luck in finding her, and this was driving Sakumo insane. How could she simply vanish and no one but them and Kiiro could remember her? He wiped the sweat from his brow and changed into his robe for comfort. Then, it dawned on him; What if she was captured or teleported someplace far away against her will? But then, why attempt to hide everyone's memories of her? Did they really not want her to be found?

Sakumo shrugged and sighed heavily.

Kakashi changed into his night-clothes and pulled off his indigo mask with a soft groan. After taking his forehead protector off, he rubbed his forehead. He was so stressed out from the mysterious disappearance of his daughter, and he's been feeling anxious about it. Anxiously, he looked at the photograph of him and his daughter eating ramen together. His stomach did a few somersaults and he winced a bit, trying to stop himself from throwing up at all. Sighing, he sat on his bed with one arm going across his stomach and tried to stay as calm as possible, and with him it was usually as easy as dodging an attack from Naruto. Way too easy. _What do I do_, he asked himself. Rest. That's what he needed to do, and he agreed with himself and laid down on his bed with the picture in his hands.

Suddenly, a stray tear rolled down his narrow jaw and he wiped it away. _Keep it together, Kakashi,_ he demanded himself. _You'll find her soon and kill whoever took her or hurt her..._ Tiredly, he grinned at the thought of choking whoever hurt her.

Kakashi hugged the picture in its frame and closed his eyes. Slowly, he fell asleep.

.

Taylor hung up her clothes in the closet before heading to bed. Silently, she laid down on her side on the bed, and pulled up the covers to her side. Maybe she can sleep better this time. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift into a deep sleep.

Ryouma walked through the wall, coming back from making sure his otouto was asleep and he found Taylor asleep. How old was she anyways? Certainly, she was older than Sakumo. What 8-year-old girl has big breasts like hers? He shivered, not wanting to think about girl's and their chests. _Maybe you'll find out sooner or later._

Ryouma leaned against the wall.

Deep in her sleep, Taylor found herself running as if she was chasing someone. It was basically pitch black, but she could see her hand in front of her face. Instead of running through air, it felt as though she was running through water. Her mind seems to have a great imagination if it can create a feeling as if she's running through water, but still able to breathe. She was breathing, and she was breathing heavily. The strange air resistance made her limbs feel more exhausted than normal. Just when she was about to give up, she saw the back of her father's head.

"Daddy?" she called.

He didn't respond. Instead, he began running from her.

"Daddy?" she asked. "Daddy?"

She ran after him.

"Daddy, its me Taylor!"

Suddenly, she heard footsteps running to her. Silently she glanced over her shoulder and saw Sakumo running. He ran past her, following Kakashi.

"Grandpa?!" she called.

"Found her!" Kakashi yelled.

"I'm right here-" Taylor turned her attention to Kakashi, who was standing over her body. Her dead body.

"Looks like she's been dead for three days," Sakumo whispered. "I'm sorry, son."

Kakashi grabbed Sakumo's arm angrily.

"You let her die!" he yelled, swinging a punch at his father.

"Kakashi-" Kakashi had hit Sakumo. "_ITAI_!"

"Gah!"

He closed his eyes tightly.

"I would never hurt Taylor. I love her as much as you do."

Kakashi grabbed the elder by his shirt.

"Kakashi!" Sakumo yelled. "Don't you dare place the blame on your father. You know I've been in bed the past few days with a twisted ankle."

Taylor watched in horror as her father threw her grandfather to the ground and hit his head. She woke up unknowingly, opened her eyes and reached her hand out.

"Grandpa!" she cried out in a loud scream that woke up Coushander.

She widened her eyes and realized she was awake.

"Thank goodness...," she whispered. "It was just a dream..."

She put her small hands over her face and breathed in a relieved sigh.

"What the hell was that all about?" she wondered.

Like she knew the answer. She took a sip from her glass by the bed and then attempted to go back to sleep. Startled by the loud scream of fear, Coushander stared up at the ceiling. _What was that,_ he thought. _Was that Taylor?_ He was too comfortable to get out of bed and was just too tired. So, he went back to sleep.

For thirty minutes, she laid in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall back asleep. That's when she gave up and rose to her feet.

"Perhaps a walk will clear my clouded mind," she whispered.

"Sounds like a good idea," came Ryouma without thinking.

"Yeah," she realized she heard another voice. "EH?!"

Taylor spun around and faced a strange man who bore a scary resemblance to her father. Though, this was the same man she'd seen twice the morning before.

"Who the hell are you?!" she exclaimed. "And what are you doing in my room?!"

Ryouma winced slightly at how loud she was.

"Calm down child," he said. "You'll wake up Coushander and we don't want that now do we?"

Taylor looked down shyly.

"N... No..."

Saru-Shin sighed.

"So now you can see me," he said.

"Obviously," Taylor grumbled.

"I'm Hatake Ryouma, but you can call me Saru-Shin," Ryouma said.

"Hatake Taylor. Wait... You're a Hatake?" Taylor asked in slight surprise.

Saru nodded.

"I'm actually the eldest... But I'm dead... And usually, I don't let others know I'm a Hatake but... I'm dead so what does it really matter if I tell a little girl? Besides, I know you're a Hatake yourself so I guess it doesn't hurt to tell you."

"So... I'm going to guess you are my-"

"Great grand-uncle? Yes indeed."

"Wait..."

Obviously, Taylor was confused on how he knew she was going to say that.

"I took a wild guess and assumed you're from the future. I heard you mention a Kakashi was your father, and Sakumotsu was your grandfather and it all began to fit together like a puzzle," he grinned. "I also heard Coushander say you were his great-granddaughter."

Saru paused.

"Now, weren't you going to take a walk? If so, mind if I join?"

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows in tired irritation. She was too tired to care, but not tired enough that her eyes were going to close and fall back asleep.

"Alright," she sighed heavily.

Together, they walked outside to the frosty field and walked along by the fence. Ryouma questioned why she was even was taking a walk, especially out in the backyard.

"Because," Taylor explained, folding her arms under her chest. "It helps me get sleepy when I can't sleep.

"Mm..."

Silently, she shoved her hands into her pockets and watched her breath freeze in the unusually cold, autumn air. After five minutes, she began shivering, her cheeks as pink as a rose and her nose felt like ice.

"I don't remember November being this chilly...," she said.

"Maybe we're getting close to December?"

"Maybe." But Taylor thought it was the middle of November at this point. Not a week till December or a day before December. But, she couldn't rule it out.

"Why don't you have a jacket to keep you warm?"

"I left mine in my time...," she said. "It was 55 degrees when I left my house and I didn't think I'd need a jacket."

She sighed and chuckled at herself.

"I'm such a klutz and oh so forgetful..."

Again, Taylor watched her breath freeze and she shivered violently when an extremely chilly gust of wind whooshed by.

"Sheesh," she said. "Was that a wind chill of 0 degrees?"

"Possibly," Saru sighed. "But I can't feel it so I couldn't say."

Taylor clenched and unclenched her hands and put them on her numbingly cold face.

"Oh my gosh my nose and my cheeks are so cold..."

She sniffled when she felt her nose begin to run.

"You should probably go back inside before you catch a cold," Saru-Shin suggested.

"Nah," she sniffled again. "I'll be fine."

Then, she sneezed.

"I'm not going to fight with you, but I will say you do not sound like you'll be fine."

Taylor rubbed her nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Don't worry."

She gave a reassuring smile.

"Even if I get sick, I doubt Dalzen's the type of sensei to send his students back home with a tiny cold. Maybe a fever though. Flu? Any sensei would send their student back if they had that," Taylor said.

She giggled.

"I'll train anyway, even if I have a cold and even if he suggests I stay..."

"Tough kid," Ryouma said.

"Haha!" Taylor laughed. "Oh, you're funny. I am not that tough, trust me. You should've seen me when Dalzen stuck me in that genjutsu... I was a little sissy!"

"Hmm..."

Saru-Shin smiled a bit and Taylor sneezed.

"Still wanna stay outside?" Saru asked as Taylor shivered violently again.

Taylor shook her head.

"I can't handle this chilly weather anymore...," she said, feeling a bit drowsy. "Lets go back..."

Saru-Shin nodded.

"Good idea."

Silently, they headed back and by that point, Taylor just wanted to sleep, so she sat down on the porch.

"You're not going inside?" Saru asked.

"Mh-mh..." She shook her head.

"Seriously?"

"Mh-hm." She nodded and leaned against the railing of the steps. Silently, she stared out at the empty field before her. After about six minutes, she allowed herself to close her eyes.

"Wait, you can't sleep there! If you stay outside like this, you'll get hypothermia or something!"

"Mm... I don't care... I'll be fine... Just tired."

Saru didn't want the girl to catch something much worse than a fever, so he tried to pick her up. Unfortunately, he could not pick the girl up because he is a ghost. He is not solid enough to pick her up. This bothered Saru-Shin slightly. Taylor fell asleep, feeling truly exhausted.

"I wonder if I can wake up Coushander..."

He ran through the walls to Coushander's room.

"Coushander!" he exclaimed.

Cou didn't hear him. Instead, he just let out a soft groan as he moved over on to his side. Saru-Shin sighed and looked around. He's found he can actually knock something over, but unfortunately, he cannot pick it up. Ryouma looked around for something to knock over. He was hell-bent on not letting the little girl freeze to death. Fortunately, he found a book he could easily knock over that would make a loud enough "Thump". Guilt washed over Ryouma as he knocked the book on to the floor to get his younger brother's attention.

Coushander jolted awake.

"What in the world?!" he exclaimed, looking around. Nothing was there.

"What was that?" he asked himself, sitting up.

Taking no notice of the book on the ground, he stood up, wondering if Taylor was awake and dropped something. He slipped his robe on and walked out of his room and to Taylor's room. The door was open, so he peered inside and saw no one there. He frowned. Was she in the bathroom? He looked down the hall to the bathroom and the lights were off in there, so he looked towards the kitchen and wondered if she was there.

Silently, he walked to the kitchen and didn't see her there either. Where could she be? Suddenly, he heard a soft sneeze and looked outside. Silently, he opened the backdoor and found the girl asleep on the porch. What was she doing outside?

"_Teirā_?" he asked.

She twitched her hand, which laid under her head on the railing.

"Taylor?"

He stepped outside. She was asleep soundly on the cold porch. Her cheeks were as pink as a rose and Coushander wondered what he should do. The only logical idea was to get her inside as soon as possible so she wouldn't freeze to death. Unfortunately, to get her inside without waking her would be to carry her to her room and lay her on her bed. Silently, he bent down to pick her up, then he thought he should warm her up as well. Instead of picking her up, he placed his hand on her cheek and he jerked his hand back. How long had she been outside? She was freezing cold and he knew she had to be warmed up as soon as possible before she could get hypothermia or frostbite. It was just a week before December, and it was possible. Sighing, he took off his robe and covered her up with it as if it were a blanket. Then closing his eyes, he scooped up the girl and carried her inside. He had so many questions for her now, like "Why the hell were you outside?" and "How long were you outside?". But the questions would have to wait till the morning, as he is not willing to wake up Taylor for such a silly reason.

When he walked inside, he closed the door behind him with his foot and walked slowly and cautiously to Taylor's room. Taylor began to warm up under the robe Cou draped on her. Silently, he walked into the room and bent down. Gently, Coushander laid Taylor down on her bed and he pulled the blankets over her. Looking down, he sighed heavily. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done that. He remembered doing it... once or twice to his son. But he was smaller than her. Taylor, even though she was pretty scrawny, had a bit of weight to her. The elder couldn't remember the last time he'd carried something that was about 110 pounds, give or take. He sighed a bit, thankful for whatever woke him up. If he hadn't thought the thud had come from Taylor's room and decided to check on her, she could've gotten sick or frostbite or something. How was he going to explain to his son if and when he finds a way into the past that his granddaughter slept outside in the cold and gotten frostbite or hypothermia?

Coushander shook his head and stood up. Sighing, he left Taylor's room to go back to sleep.

Taylor woke up at seven-thirty on her own. Early morning light filtered through the window and landed on her pale face. Taylor tensed and sneezed. Then, she groaned and sniffled.

"How did I get back in my room?" she whispered softly, stroking her Kakashi plush doll's soft, felt hair.

"Coushander was nice enough to carry you inside. You should thank him," Ryouma said.

She sat up and the blankets on her fell to her lap. She noticed one of them was actually not a blanket. It was Coushander's robe.

"Why do I have his robe?" she asked in a soft voice.

"He knew you needed to warm up," Saru replied. "And he had to get you back inside so he put his robe on you so you could begin to warm up."

She pulled the robe from underneath the blankets and stood up.

"I should go give it back to him," she said, placing the robe over her arm and crossing both her arms.

Ryouma nodded and Taylor walked out of her room. She buried her nose in her shoulder and coughed a bit, then sniffled again. Then, she headed to the living room.

"Coushander?" she asked, looking around.

He wasn't in the kitchen or the living room. Was he still in bed? She spun around and dashed off to Coushander's room. Silently, she peered into his room and saw him on his bed, sleeping soundly. She watched him with her ice-blue eyes in a soft, distracted gaze. After a moment, she shook her head and thought, _I should just wait till he wakes up._ Silently, she headed back to her room, changed into clean clothes, and sat on her bed, wondering what she'll do.

"Perhaps you can make him breakfast?" Ryouma asked.

Taylor shrugged.

"I don't cook... I can only make miso, and ramen," she said.

Saru-Shin stared at her.

"You're how old and you don't cook?"

"Twelve and yes..."

"Can you make onigiri?"

"Oh yeah, and I can make onigiri too."

Ryouma thought for a moment.

"How about you make onigiri and I teach you to make udon soup? It's not much of a breakfast, its more like a lunch, but it should work," he said. "And Coushander would appreciate it, certainly."

Taylor pondered for a moment and nodded.

"I guess I can do that," she said.

Saru smiled a bit.

"Alright, let's go make breakfast," he said.

.

Kakashi slept restlessly the night before, and had a hard time keeping himself focused on finding Taylor. As far as he was concerned, Sakumo found her. But, once they met up empty-handed, he knew that wasn't true.

He rubbed his head and dried himself off with the bright green towel. Silently, he threw on his clothes. As he was getting dressed, he heard the sound of giggling coming from downstairs. He was the only one who heard it, because he did not hear Sakumo call out, wondering if that was Taylor. Kakashi slipped his mask on and dashed down to the kitchen, hoping that he wasn't hallucinating things now. He heard more giggling in the kitchen. Was that Taylor? He looked around the kitchen, opening every cabinet, opening every place Taylor could crawl and hide in. No sign of her. Suddenly, he heard another voice. A man's voice. It sounded as if the man was telling a funny story.

The female voice certainly belonged to his daughter. There was no mistaking it.

"Taylor?" he called. "Taylor?"

No response. Great. He was beginning to hallucinate, and that was just what he needed. More stress.

.

Taylor giggled softly at Saru-Shin as she made the rice balls.

"Really?" she giggled. "Wow, if I had an older sibling, I can so see them saying that to me when I was a baby. Siblings must be a pain though... Glad I am an only child."

Saru smiled a bit and nodded.

Taylor finished the last rice ball she planned to make (she only made four, two for her and two for Coushander) and set them aside on a plate. Then, she began searching for udon noodles. No luck.

"Uhm...," she tapped her small fingers against the cabinet door she was looking in. "I suppose Coushander doesn't have any udon noodles?"

"You can't find any?" Ryouma asked.

Taylor shook her head slowly.

"Nope."

Saru pondered for a moment.

"Ramen," Taylor said, sneezing afterwards. "I see ramen noodles hidden in the back of the cabinet. I can make ramen."

A sweat drop slid down her warm cheek.

"Yeah... Obviously we're having more of a lunch, but oh well," she said. "I've had mornings where I've eaten something I'd eat for lunch. I'm sure everyone has at some point."

Saru shrugged.

"Ramen and rice balls," he said. "I'm sure he won't mind that."

"I know I wouldn't," she grinned, grabbing ingredients for ramen. "Shio... Salt ramen... I hope he doesn't mind a bit of salt with his ramen!"

Taylor pulled out a pot and began working on making the ramen.

"So, how come you don't like to cook?" Saru asked.

"Cause, I don't like being burned," she replied.

"Well, you should get over that because you have to eat to survive. You barely even know how to make the basics, which you need to know."

Taylor nodded a bit, looking down as she sliced the chicken into tiny pieces. After she finished with the chicken, silently she worked on cutting the pepper and the _nori_. Once the broth was ready for the ingredients, she began adding them in the order she remembered them.

Coushander woke up to the scent of ramen but he didn't get up. All he wanted was just to sleep, so he kept his eyes closed and tried to continue sleeping. But, the more intense the scent got, the more he realized he was hungry. Sighing, he stood up, put on his other robe, and started for the kitchen.

Taylor and Saru-Shin hummed softly as she stirred the soup. After a moment, she taste-tested the broth to make sure it was salty enough, and added some more salt after not tasting the salt like she wanted to. Obviously, she liked her ramen salty. Suddenly, the two heard a soft groan from the hallway and footsteps.

"Hm?" they both glanced at each other questioningly.

"Coushander," Saru said. "Uhmmm... Taylor, just say this was your idea if he asks and do not mention me. He can't see me, I'm dead."

Taylor nodded and turned around as Coushander walked in.

"Uhmmm...," he raised an eyebrow. "Good morning?"

Taylor offered him a gentle smile.

"Good morning, Great-Grandpa Coushander," she said.

He scratched his head.

"Uhmm... What're you doing?"

"Cooking," Taylor replied. "Ramen and rice balls for breakfast. Sorry, I don't cook much so that's just about all I know how to make. I hope that's fine."

The elder wasn't sure what to think exactly, so he just nodded.

"Yes, that's perfectly fine," he said, returning the soft smile Taylor offered.

Taylor smiled again and faced the pot, taste-testing the soup again. Just another two pinches of salt!

"Almost done," she said. "Needs two more pinches of salt and I will be satisfied with it..."

So, she added two more pinches of salt and taste-tested it one last time.

"Okay," she smiled joyfully. "Done."

Taylor allowed the elder to get his bowl of ramen and two rice balls first, then she got hers. Silently, they sat down and began to eat.

The younger Hatake ate rather slowly, not feeling too well. Taylor began to wonder if she really was sick. Sniffling and coughing into her elbow, she kept herself eating her breakfast. Coushander shot her a concerned look.

"Are you not feeling well?" he asked.

Taylor shook her head. No, she was feeling fine, which was an obvious lie. She wasn't as good as it as her father was, but even after a while the kids he taught began to catch on to his lies. Saru-Shin shook his head.

"Damn, I knew it was a bad idea to have stayed out for as long as we did," he said.

That's when Coushander remembered he had some questions.

"What were you doing outside last night?" Coushander asked.

Taylor looked down and scratched behind her ear.

"I had a uhm... nightmare that I woke up from so I tried going back to sleep, but might I say that was quite unsuccessful. So, I took a walk outside in the field to get myself sleepy enough to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, after fifteen minutes I went back and decided to sit down on the steps and stare off into the distance. I guess I just fell asleep there," she looked up at the elder. "Thanks... For bringing me inside, Coushander."

The younger Hatake paused a moment.

"Oh yeah," she said, beginning to stand up. Silently, she dashed off to the living room and picked up the robe the elder left covering her like a blanket, then she walked back to the kitchen.

"Your robe?"

"Oh yeah," he shook his head. "Don't worry about it right now. You may borrow it until you're returned to your own time. Since you're training with Dalzen, its outside and winter is nearing, you need something to keep you warm."

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked. "I can get myself a new jacket if you'd rather."

"Nah," the eldest gave a slight smile to the girl. "I don't mind at all, Taylor." He'd rather the child save the yen she had left for something she might desperately need, like maybe a sketchbook or a notebook if she needed to write to keep her sane. Or something he was not going to think of.

"Alright...," Taylor said, folding the robe for later use. "If you say so..."

She sat down and continued eating slowly, coughing every so often.

"So... That's what the screaming last night was about? A nightmare?"

Taylor nodded.

"Yeah... But it was nothing really. Just something that was scary at the time," she said. "Not so scary now... but perhaps a bit worrisome for me..."

She sneezed into her elbow.

"But, its really nothing for you to be concerned about... Not to sound rude," she said.

"Its okay," he said. "I get what you're saying. Its just something you don't want to talk about."

Taylor nodded.

"Exactly."


	5. Smile a Sweet Smile

.

Smile a Sweet Smile

.

"Dad, I swear to the gods I heard Taylor giggling in the kitchen this morning," exclaimed Kakashi over a breakfast of rice and miso with eggplant.

"Kakashi, it was your imagination," his father said. "Or, you were remembering her giggling over something you've said."

"It was not something I remembered or hallucinated," Kakashi argued. "It was as if she was in here, giggling because we thought she was lost."

Sakumo sipped his miso calmly.

"Go back to bed," he said. "After you finish eating. That is an order."

Kakashi breathed in slowly, actually considering that it was his sleep deprivation that had him thinking he heard Taylor giggling.

"Maybe you're right, Dad," he said. "I didn't sleep well last night. Perhaps that was my mind's way of saying I need to go back to sleep."

Sakumo allowed himself to smile gently and watched as Kakashi drank the rest of the broth. After he finished, he took himself upstairs to sleep.

.

She decided to put on the robe five minutes before Dalzen was planning to get her for training. As she slid her scrawny arms through the sleeves, she glanced down at her feet.

"Are you sure want to go train?" Coushander asked Taylor. "You don't look well."

She nodded, sniffling.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"I should get your temperature," Cou said, putting his hand on her forehead.

"I said I'll be fine, Coushander," she jerked her head away. "I've trained while sick before, though my father continuously persisted me to go to bed and get some rest. I'm stubborn that way."

"You've got a fever though," he said.

"Trained with a fever before," Taylor coughed.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Taylor nodded.

"Have you trained with the flu?"

"Haha, nope," Taylor grinned. "My father absolutely forbids me from training with the flu, for obvious reasons."

Coushander nodded.

"Yeah..."

She sneezed softly, away from Cou and she rubbed her eyes.

"Trust me, I'll be fine," she said. "And wow your robe is like a long dress on me."

She smiled a bit.

"Thank you, Coushander," she said. "You're really kind to me..."

Taylor looked down, wanting to hug him, but she contemplated his reaction and decided it would be a bit too awkward for him. Coushander looked away, feeling a bit awkward, and blushing ever-so-slightly. His dark, grey eyes slowly peeked back at Taylor, who was staring at her feet, blushing a bit. Was it what she said or was she loosing herself to her shyness again? Coushander shrugged a bit. Who knows?

When Taylor heard a knock at the door, her attention went from the floor to the door. It was Dalzen, prepared with more genjutsu for her to learn. Taylor knew she wasn't going to back down from being taught genjutsu by a seemingly patient sensei. Coushander answered the door and Taylor walked over, feeling a bit awkward in the robe.

"Good morning," Dalzen said.

"Morning," Taylor and Cou both said at once.

Dalzen was about to say something but then he noticed Taylor wearing the elder's robe.

"My goodness," he said, looking at the two. "You two look so much alike."

He folded his arms against his chest, grabbing his arms with the opposite hand.

"Now... Explain why she is wearing your robe?"

"Uhm... I thought she'd get cold without it, so I am allowing her to borrow it," he said. "I can be a nice person, don't forget that, Dalzen."

"I haven't forgotten that," Dalzen said. "Honestly, I think I'd do the same thing. It is nearly twenty-eight degrees out here, but feels like twenty."

Taylor studied Dalzen, who barely wore any proper wear for the chilly weather. Perhaps he's more tolerant of the cold than she was? Or perhaps the shirt he was wearing under his vest was made of a thicker fabric than normal shirts. Sweater, basically. But as far as Taylor could tell, he was wearing a normal shirt. At a second glance, she noticed a scarf around his neck and a pair of gloves on his hands. Taylor shook her head.

"On second though...," she said, feeling iffy about wearing Cou's robe. "I'll be fine. I'm pretty tolerant of the cold."

Dalzen just somehow knew she was lying and coughed, "Liar!".

Taylor took off the robe.

"Don't worry about it," she said.

Dalzen looked to Coushander, who looked like he was about to assure her that it was fine to wear his robe. He didn't mind the fact that the robe is so long it touches the ground on her.

"Perhaps she doesn't like wearing robes?" Dalzen shrugged.

"Or she's afraid she'll mess up the bottom of it...," Coushander said. "my robe is like a long dress on her, but a bit too long... Or at least for her I guess."

"Hm...," Dalzen nodded in agreement.

"A strange child she is...," Cou said.

"Yeah, coming from the Hatake himself," Dalzen grinned.

"Oh shush," Coushander said, letting Taylor slip past him.

"Strangest family in the Leaf," she said with humor edging her voice.

Dalzen put his hand on Taylor's back as she faced Coushander, ready to help her learn more genjutsu. Her eyes glanced down at her feet and back up.

"If I may ask... What are you even able to teach her that she hasn't already learned?" the elder asked.

"Genjutsu," he replied. "Taylor mentioned she can't do genjutsu very well and I have offered to help her with it. So far, I have made progress."

He mouthed, "Sakumo and his son were trying to teach her but couldn't manage it. It's probably because they started off with the harder ones."

Cou nodded. Perhaps so.

"I see...," he said.

Taylor glanced down at her feet as Dalzen gestured for her to begin walking. Her eyes darted up to his hand and nodded, turning around to walk off.

"We'll be off then," he said. "I promise, if I feel she can't concentrate long enough on what she has to do I will get her something warmer than what she is currently wearing. Like this shirt," he pointed out the fact that his shirt is made of a thicker material that is keeping him warm. Coushander nodded.

Quiet little Taylor folded her arms against her chest when she stopped a bit behind Dalzen.

"I'll be fine," she coughed.

"If you can't concentrate on what you have to do...," Dalzen repeated as he began walking. Taylor followed closely behind him. "I know not everyone is tolerant of the cold."

Coushander closed the door as they left.

Taylor kept silent, hugging her arms close to her and shivering a lot. Dalzen took a quick glance at the quiet girl and watched her shiver. Her blue eyes seemed to have lightened to an icy-blue color and her cheeks were slowly turning pink. Without a sound, she buried her nose in the collar of her shirt. Sighing, Dalzen thought about taking Taylor to the village to get her a thicker shirt for her to keep warm while she trained. He turned toward the village, and Taylor unconsciously followed him.

"Why are we heading for the village?" she sniffled.

"To get you a thicker shirt," Dalzen shoved his numb hands into his pockets. "I am not going to let you freeze to death while we train. Trust me, I'm not a mean and strict sensei. I don't let my students freeze out here when its cold. And no, do not say you can handle the cold because your posture and your shivering tells me otherwise."

_Stubborn child_, Dalzen thought bitterly when he saw Taylor frown like she wanted to tell him she wasn't cold. _Stubborn, just like your grandfather and great-grandfather._

Taylor reached into her pocket and pulled out her last ¥700. Was that enough to buy another shirt? _Of course it was_, she thought.

Silently, they walked in the direction of the village.

.

Not two weeks later, Taylor was able to do genjutsu about as well as Dalzen in his first year of learning it. Tiredly, she leaned against the tree. Her ice-blue eyes glanced up at her grandfather's sensei, burying her nose in her bright red scarf.

"Break time," he announced. "And after our lunch break, we can do a one-on-one battle. Yes, I will allow you to use your ninjutsu and your taijutsu."

Taylor sniffled and nodded.

"Right," she slid down to the frost-covered grass and rubbed her forehead. Then, she held her face and sighed.

Dalzen tossed a bottle of water at the twelve-year old, who caught it without looking. Gingerly, she opened the bottle and took a sip from it. Soundlessly, she looked the other way and her lips trembled as she began pondering why her father and grandfather haven't found her yet. What if they gave up trying to figure out how to get to her? What if she was never going to see them again because neither them nor Nidaime can find a jutsu to get her back? The overwhelming thoughts forced Taylor to wipe her eyes of tears and eat from her bento box. Dalzen was oblivious to Taylor shedding tears.

"Hey Dalzen...," Taylor whispered. "When is the winter festival?"

"Same date as every year with no bad weather," he replied. "Next week on the twentieth."

She sighed.

"Great, I'm probably gonna miss it this year...," she sniffled, eating her ume from her bento box.

"Perhaps not if your granddad or Nidaime can figure out how to get you back," Dalzen said. "Or perhaps if not by then, I'm sure Keiko - Or hell, Coushander if you ask nicely - would take you."

"Or me!" piped up Saru-Shin, making Taylor jump at the sound of his voice. Dalzen raised an eyebrow.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"EH?" She looked up. "Oh uhm..." She shrugged.

"Oh... Sorry," Saru said. "I startled you, didn't I?"

Taylor flashed him a glare.

"Yes you did." she said.

Dalzen followed Taylor's angry glare.

"What are you looking at and who are you talking to because I know that isn't directed at me," he said, hoping she knows better than to use an angry tone with him.

Taylor looked up, eyes wide. She swallowed hard, knowing it was not a good idea to lie to Dalzen this time.

"I uh... Uhm..." she bit her bottom lip and sighed.

"Please do not tell Coushander," she said. Dalzen nodded.

She began in a tiny whisper, "Saru-Shin..."

Pausing, Taylor closed her eyes and sighed in irritation.

"I can see Saru-Shin, Coushander's older brother."

"I know who Saru-Shin is," Dalzen frowned. "And he's dead. He's been dead for awhile now..."

"I know," Taylor held her breath for a moment, then she exhaled. "But I can see and talk to his spirit."

Dalzen was at a loss for words as he tried to comprehend what she just said. Did Taylor just say she can see Saru-Shin and speak to him? She sat still, not moving a single muscle in fear that he was pissed off. Her grandfather's sensei stood motionless, still at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed his mouth and shook his head. _Nah, the girl was just joking_, Dalzen thought._ Of course she can't see or talk to ghosts._ He chuckled.

"Yeah yeah. Okay. You can see Coushander's brother. Ahhh that was a pretty funny joke there Miss Hatake. You're a pro with jokes," he said, trying to humor the child.

With a straight face Taylor said, "I'm not and I was being serious."

"Really?" Dalzen asked.

"Yes, really," her face told him that she was telling the truth.

"Really?" he asked, now beginning to believe her. Taylor gave a curt nod and reached behind Saru's head and backhanded him. He shrugged.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked.

"No not really," Taylor said. "Just go do something that Dalzen will notice."

Ryouma nodded and picked up a random pebble and threw it at Dalzen, who proceeded to catch it with his left hand.

"The hell-?"

"Saru did that," Taylor said softly.

Dalzen opened his first and stared at the tiny pebble. Did Saru-Shin really throw that or was Taylor seriously joking? He thought the latter. Taylor finished up her lunch and jumped up, feeling relaxed now.

"Lets fight now!" she said. Dalzen looked down at his lunch.

"We'll fight when I say we can," he said, his voice edged with a slight tone of bitterness.

"Damn. Okay then," she sighed and jumped up to the closest branch to her and clung to it like a monkey and Dalzen continued eating. Without a sound, the petite girl pulled herself up to the branch and sat on the thin branch. When she attempted to stand up to go to the next branch, the branch snapped under her weight and she fell down with the branch. Before she knew it, she landed on her back and the breath was knocked out of her. Dalzen winced when he heard her land and then he immediately dashed over to her aid.

"Are you okay?!" he exclaimed, standing over her.

"_Itai_...," she strained through her tightly clenched teeth. Dalzen allowed her a few moments to collect herself and catch her breath before he re-stated his question— "Eh?"

"Are. You. Okay?" Dalzen repeated slowly.

Taylor managed to open her eyes and look at the man who towered above her. Just like her father.

"I've had worse happen," she whispered softly.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked, holding four fingers up, making sure she wasn't concussed. "What is my name? Who is your grandfather? Your name?"

"Four fingers, Dalzen Morino, Sakumo Hatake, Taylor Hatake," she groaned.

"Yeah you're okay," Dalzen reached his hand out to help her up. Silently, Taylor reached her tiny hand up to grab Dalzen's hand (which was pretty big compared to hers) and he pulled her up to her feet. He noticed her small hands and smiled softly.

"Awww your hands are so small and cute!" he teased.

Taylor stood straight and blushed.

"Shut up," she grumbled in embarrassment.

Dalzen grinned.

"Well, you're what— twelve? You've got several years left of growing and who knows, you could get to Coushander's height," he said. "Your hands won't be so tiny then."

He paused.

"Hmmm after that fall you took there, perhaps you should get home to rest," he suggested.

"I'll be fine. That's nothing compared to me being squashed by my father or me falling ten feet off a cliff," she said, twisting herself in a way that she could crack her back. "Maybe I need to crack my back some, but I'll be fine."

"Hey, I could possibly help with that," Dalzen offered.

"Oh, so you don't mind a hug?" Taylor asked.

"I guess not if I can help crack your back for you," he sighed softly, looking away from her.

"Yay!" Taylor jumped up and hugged Dalzen, who chuckled softly, slightly embarrassed. Silently, he squeezed Taylor enough that her back would pop.

"There," he said after thoroughly cracking her back so he didn't miss a spot. "Better now?"

Taylor nodded.

"Thank you, Dalzen," she smiled softly.

"Ah, its nothing," he smiled a bit. "I guess you want to fight me now?"

Taylor nodded quickly.

"Yeah!"

.

The youngest Hatake weaved his way though the trees, having heard his sensei was at the training field with a strange boy— Or at least that's what the person who saw him said. He couldn't tell if the kid was a guy or a girl. Sakumo needed to ask Dalzen something, so he was fast on his feet. As soon as he got to the training field, he saw a grey-haired kid that looked like him fighting with Dalzen.

"Sensei!" Sakumotsu shouted. "Sensei!"

Dalzen's attention turned to the boy and Taylor accidentally crashed into him as she looked at Sakumo. Both stumbled backwards.

"ITAI!" they both exclaimed.

Sakumo winced.

"Sorry," the small child apologized.

Taylor rubbed her head and Dalzen rubbed his throat, where Taylor hit him without meaning to. After a moment, they looked at Sakumo.

"Grandpa?" she whispered, looking at Dalzen. "Is that my grandfather when he was little?"

Dalzen folded his arms and nodded. "Yes, that is your grandfather," he whispered back.

Taylor gaped at Sakumo, studying him. His hair was shorter than his present-day self - like her father's hair and her's before she grew out her hair - and he looked pretty adorable. It took all her strength not to go and hug him tightly and tell him how adorable he was. He was shorter than she was, which made her feel tall. But then she looked at Dalzen, who just about towered over her like a tree. She looked back at Sakumo, who wore an indigo shirt like hers and a cream-colored scarf and a pair of indigo gloves with metal plates on the back. He practically was a spitting image of Taylor when she was little.

Dalzen and Taylor kinda stared at Sakumo, wondering what they should do.

"Lets not try and do anything major," she suggested quietly to Dalzen. "I've probably already somewhat changed the timeline just by living with Coushander and training and learning genjutsu with you. We don't need anything bad to happen to Grandpa in the present time. I mean, I probably won't but if its something big, then I could hurt my present-day Sakumo."

Dalzen nodded, agreeing with her.

"Yeah," he said.

"Hey Sensei... Who's the weird boy that looks like Dad?" the kid asked.

"_She_," he emphasized. "is..."

"Inoue, Taylor," she said, reaching her hand out to greet her grandfather. "But, I prefer Inoue."

"Inoue?"

"Yeah. And you are?"

"Sakumo Hatake."

"Sakumo? I love that name. That's my granddad's name. Inoue Sakumo."

"Cool."

He turned to Dalzen, suddenly forgetting his question.

"Uhmm...," the youngest Hatake shoved his hands into his pockets. "Damn it, I forgot what I was going to ask."

"Ask me later then, Sakumo," his sensei said.

Sakumo thought for a moment.

"Could I stay with you and watch y'all fight?" he asked.

Taylor bit her lip, refraining from spilling the beans about her being his granddaughter from the future. Dalzen pondered for a moment. What was the harm in letting him watch them? He could get ideas for a jutsu that he didn't learn in the future. Taylor could accidentally hit him if he's too close. Only the gods knew what could happen. Dalzen put his hand on his forehead and brushed his bangs back, allowing them to fall back into place. He decided there really wasn't much harm in letting Sakumo watch them.

"I suppose you can," he said. "Just... Sakumo, please stay out of the way."

"Of course, Sensei," Sakumo said, offering a really familiar and warm smile that broke Taylor's heart, not on purpose and her heart only shattered because she missed her grandfather still. Tears began to form in Taylor's eyes and she instantly wiped them away, trying to show she doesn't get emotional easily.

"What's wrong?" the child asked her.

"Huh?" Dalzen looked at her.

"Oh uhmm..." She racked her head for excuses. "Allergies."

"Allergies?" Sakumo asked. "But it is winter, or almost winter."

"You can have allergies in winter!" Taylor argued.

"You were crying. What kind of shinobi cries?" Sakumo implied.

"No I wasn't, my eyes get watery and shinobis with a heart cries!" Taylor exclaimed.

"You were so crying!"

"No I wasn't!"

"You were too!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"CHILDREN! Cut it out!" Dalzen raised his voice a tad.

"Sorry," they said.

Sakumo put his hands together and then he remembered his question.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That's what my question was. Dalzen-Sensei, how come we're stuck with a substitute sensei?"

"Because...," Dalzen bit his tongue before he told him that Nidaime had done it as a way for her to train and practice jutsu without her sensei in the future. And that sensei was him, Sakumo Hatake.

"Because, my sensei couldn't teach me genjutsu like I'd wanted so he'd asked Nidaime to let Dalzen teach me genjutsu for awhile until I got the hang of it. Sorry Gran-" Taylor stopped herself from saying 'Grandpa'. "I mean, Sakumo."

"Yeah, what she said."

The child didn't know any better. "Oh, okay then. I just wanted to know."

Taylor backed up some.

"Okay, lets do this," Taylor said, as if she couldn't wait to kick someone's ass.

"Right..." Dalzen got ready to continue the spar.

.

Sakumo pulled out a tea bag for earl grey tea and put it in his glass. His eyes were dark with gloom, his face was melancholy. Its been nearly three weeks with no sign of Taylor. Though he felt hurt by this, his son's pain was nearly 10x worse since he is Taylor's father. Unconsciously, he clenched his hands into fists and breathed in sharply. _Where is she?!_ he thought, rage pulsing through him. His breath was uneven as he fought the urge to punch the countertop. Sakumo swallowed hard and bit his bottom lip, and unfortunately releasing his anger.

"Goddammit!" he shouted, slamming his hand down hard on the countertop.

He had to get it out of his system. Panting, Sakumo began to collect himself before he could do it again.

"Taylor...," he whimpered softly. "Please... Just come home... Please..."

Then it hit him hard. Out of nowhere, his head began to ache. Boom, major headache. Sakumo collected himself completely and quickly and winced.

"Gah!" he put his hand on his forehead.

After a few moments, he took a deep breath.

"Whoa," he closed his eyes. "Am I having a migraine? I know this isn't a normal headache..."

He rubbed his forehead.

"Ow... Sheesh."

The water boiler clicked, hot and ready to be served. Sakumo gingerly took the boiler and poured the boiling water into his cup and sat it back down.

"Hey... Dad...," came the calm and quiet voice of his son.

"Afternoon... Kakashi."

Sakumo put a bit of sugar in his tea after taking out the teabag and took a sip out of the cup.

"I'm just... gonna go upstairs...," he said. "Your old man isn't feeling very well at the moment."

Kakashi nodded.

"I see..."

Without a word, Sakumo walked off and disappeared, reappearing in his room. Kakashi sighed a bit. The night before, he'd heard Taylor calling out to him somewhere in the backyard, but when he went to look, she wasn't there. Was that a sign that he was loosing it? Or was that a piece of the puzzle? He was beginning to think that something strange happened to Taylor, and that he was supposed to find that out and help her.

Kakashi's grey eyes were distant with thought. The shy little child that was his own flesh and blood still can't find her way out of a genjutsu. As he pulled out a second cup and a teabag, Kakashi glanced out the window, where he saw a reflection of his daughter. Her ice-blue eyes met his own, warm grey eyes. Her hair, pulled back with a cool blue hair tie revealed her rounded face. A gentle smile played her face and she blushed slightly. That was her, smiling a sweet smile.

"Taylor?" he whispered, putting his hand on the frozen window. Timidly, she looked away. Her mouth opened and Kakashi leaned closer to hear what she wanted to say.

"Daddy," she whispered. "Help me..."

Without intention, the reflection disappeared. Was that really a reflection? It couldn't have been because she was talking. Hallucination? Possibly. Or was it?

"Taylor? Taylor?! I swear if you're pulling a prank on me...," Kakashi bit his tongue. Taylor wasn't one for pranking, so why would she be trying to prank him. When he's most vulnerable to blowing a fuse? He knew Taylor better than that. His gaze went down.

"Damn it," he said. Her words echoed in his head. What did she mean by, "Help me"? Was she in some kind of trouble? He didn't know. All he knew is that he wanted his daughter back, safe and sound.

Kakashi turned his head away and ended up dumping his tea — he didn't feel thirsty anymore. Tears formed in his eyes and he wiped his tears. She would eventually find her way back, or they'll find her out there, all alone.

.


	6. If Only You Knew

.

If Only You Knew

.

Dalzen slid down to the ground, feeling completely exhausted. Nothing but some rest would make him feel better at the moment. Taylor slid back on her feet, panting from exhaustion. Her body ached from using all her ninjutsu and taijutsu moves. At this point, they both just wanted to quit because neither one was going to be able to beat the other. Either Taylor was not so tired today and feeling up to anything and energetic, or Dalzen was rather tired, and he had no idea that he was tired.

"You win," they told the other.

Dalzen looked at the little girl.

"No, you win Taylor," he said. "I've got nothing left to use against you and I'm just plain exhausted. You beat me, fair and square."

The timid girl fell to her knees and coughed. She shook her head.

"Don't argue with me," Dalzen said. "You won."

"That was awesome!" Sakumo and Saru-Shin both said at the same time.

"Can we just say it's a tie," Taylor asked. "I think we both just beat the crap out of each other..."

Dalzen winced as he tried to stand up. "I don't know... But I guess you're right..."

"Yeah..."

Taylor didn't bother standing until Dalzen offered to help her up. He pulled her up onto her feet and looked at Sakumo.

"I would like to help you, Sakumo," he chuckled nervously. "But I managed to wear myself out. I just need rest at the moment, helping you with anything at the moment is out of the question."

Sakumo nodded.

"That's fine, Dalzen-Sensei," he said.

Taylor looked up as little flakes of snow began falling down. She held out her hand and looked up.

"Is it supposed to snow today?" she asked as one landed in her hand.

Dalzen and Sakumo looked up.

"I suppose so," Dalzen said.

A gust of wind sent chills down everyone's back, and they all shuddered.

"Man, that was one cold gust of wind," Sakumo said.

"Yeah," Dalzen folded his arms against his chest, trying not to shiver. "This is odd... It doesn't usually snow until the end of January."

"Should we all head home?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah," Dalzen said, looking at her. "And you should get some rest. I mean, we're seriously both beat. I expect you to be fully rested next time we meet, whenever that may be depending on how much snow is going to get dumped here in the Leaf."

Taylor nodded.

"Yes sir," she buried her nose in her scarf and shoved her hands into her pockets. "See you later then, Dalzen." Taylor turned to start heading to Cou's house.

"See ya," he turned to Sakumo. "You should head on home as well."

Sakumo nodded.

"Right."

.

The eight-year-old boy followed the twelve-year-old girl to Coushander's house. He tried to practice his stealth, every time Taylor glanced over her shoulder, he hid behind a tree. Sakumo was as quiet as a mouse while Taylor hummed along with Saru-Shin, but Sakumo didn't know this.. All he knew was that the strange girl was humming something odd. She looked up beside her, as if she were looking at someone.

"Saru-Shin," Taylor said. "Would you sing the Irish drinking song again?"

He looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, of course," he smiled.

In a soft voice, Saru began;

"The minstrel boy to the war is gone"

And that was when Taylor joined in and Sakumo listened closely.

"In the ranks of death you will find him;  
His father's sword he hath girded on,  
And his wild harp slung behind him;  
"Land of song!" said the warrior bard,  
"Tho' all the world betrays thee,  
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,  
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"

Sakumo gaped at Taylor. Her voice was so beautiful and so eerie it just sent chills down Sakumo's spine. He shuddered. _Wow, her voice is so pretty!_

"Why don't you sing something you know?" Saru asked.

"Uhmmm..." Taylor shook her head. "Nah, I wanna sing the Minstrel Boy song again."

Saru smiled a bit.

"You like that one, hm?"

"Yeah." A snow-flake landed on her nose as they approached the house. They sang it again and Sakumo saw where Taylor was heading. She was heading for Coushander's house. His father's house! Did she know him? He didn't remember meeting anyone that looked a lot like him and his father when he was younger. He shook his head.

She couldn't be staying with Coushander, right? He shook his head again. He'll have to get her later. For now, he needed to get home before getting caught in the snow-storm. Sakumo turned around and dashed off back home.

.

Coushander glanced out the window, after taking a loaf of cinnamon bread he made in hopes of cheering Taylor up. Snow was falling, but it was rather early for snow, wasn't it? After taking his oven-mitt off, he opened the backdoor and walked out to the edge of the small porch and stuck his hand out. That was odd. Snow in December. That did not happen very often for the Leaf Village. Then again, it was an awful summer, heat and humidity-wise. The elder clenched his hand and walked back inside, closing the door behind him. He looked at the time: three-thirty in the afternoon. Taylor should be home soon, so he began making the hot cocoa. Not three minutes later, the front door opened and he heard humming. It was Taylor.

The song sounded painfully familiar to him, something his older brother would've sang. Shaking his head, Coushander poured the boiling water into the glasses filled with chocolate powder for hot cocoa. Taylor took in a deep breath and smiled.

"Man, it smells so fantastic in here!" she exclaimed, setting her sandals down beside Coushander's. She rubbed her hands together. "What'cha making?"

She walked into the kitchen as Cou began stirring the cocoa.

"I uhmm...," he glanced over his shoulder at her. "I made a loaf of that bread you said Sakumotsu would make for you and your father and I'm just about done making... _us _a cup of hot cocoa. You said three cups of cinnamon and four cups of sugar?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, exactly that amount."

He smiled a bit.

"Well then, this should be good."

Taylor kept inhaling the air deeply, wishing she could just eat the air. Then, she turned her attention to the loaf of bread on the stove.

"May I have at it?" she asked politely.

"Of course you may!" Coushander grinned. "I made it for you."

He left out the part where he did it to try and cheer her up because he didn't know how she'd react. He just wanted her to enjoy the bread without having to act like she was cheered up, even though he knew that was something she probably wouldn't do.

"Yay!" Taylor grabbed the bread knife and sliced a piece off for herself. Taylor took a bite and said, "MMM! So yummy!" She bowed to him. "Thank you Coushander, this is just great! It tastes exactly the same as when Grandpa makes this."

Coushander blushed slightly.

"A-Ah, Its nothing," he handed her a cup of hot cocoa. "Here you go, to warm up your hands and well, your body. You must've been freezing cold outside."

Taylor looked at him.

"Can I just give you a hug?" she asked. "You're an amazing great-grandfather."

"Oh uhmmm...," Coushander said looking away, blushing. "Well, I guess that's fine." He couldn't say no to the little girl. She was such a sweet little girl and appeared to be exhausted. A hug would do her some good.

Taylor finished her bread with one bite and Coushander sat her hot cocoa down on the counter. He was prepared to fall backwards after she glomp-attacked him. Taylor jumped up and hugged the elder. Wow, she didn't knock him over. Amazing. Awkwardly, he returned the hug and waited till Taylor to let go of him, which was a few minutes before she did so, to hand her the glass to her.

"Glad you like it," he said softly with a gentle smile.

.

Sakumo held an icepack to his forehead, trying to stop his headache from getting worse. He'd already taken two aspirins to help, but so far it hasn't worked. His pained gaze turned to the window. Outside, it was dark and snowing rather gently. He took a step towards the window and saw about .5 inches of snow accumulated on the ground. Furrowing his eyebrows with discontent, he thought, _why so early? This isn't normal... Then again, I have to admit it was a pretty brutal summer this year. Maybe that's why its snowing this early._

He turned when he thought he heard his name.

"Grandpa."

That was his name to Taylor, who was the only person allowed to call him "Grandpa".

"Taylor?" he turned around.

"Help me," she whined. "Please, Grandpa!"

"Where are you? What happened?" he asked, not seeing her anywhere. A flash of snow-lightning startled Sakumo and the lights flickered off for a moment. When the lights came back on, there was a ghostly apparition that was Taylor.

"I'm with Coush-" Suddenly, Taylor felt like she was being choked. She put her hands on her throat and tried to get the hands off it. "AAH! There isn't much time left! Grandpa you have to-" she was cut off as she was forced to disappear to get away from the evil spirit following her.

"Taylor? Taylor? Taylor?!" He ran over to where she was and reached his hand out to touch her. She wasn't there anymore.

Coush? Who is that? Could she have been trying to say, 'Coushander'? But, he hadn't even told her about her great-grandfather yet, how did she even know his name? Before he could even think of the reasons, a sharp pain in his head brought him to his knees. Tightly, he put his hands on the back of his head and exclaimed, "GAHHHH!" He began breathing shakily.

Odd memories that he could've sworn he's never had before entered his head, but he could only remember bits and pieces of it so he couldn't tell exactly how they went. After a few moments, Sakumo exhaled shakily and crawled into his bed. Perhaps sleep was what was best for him. Sakumo pulled the covers over him and sat his icepack down on the floor beside him. He'd get that later, he thought as he closed his eyes to sleep

.

In his dream, he was home with his father; Coushander Hatake. Sakumo walked over to his father, his eyes was dark with sadness. Maybe his father would be willing to help.

"Dad...," he whispered. "Have you seen my granddaughter?"

The elder looked up to his son.

"Miss Taylor?" he asked. "Well, she's with me... Well, she was until that tragic day..."

Sakumo frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... She was killed... Dalzen and I bore witness to this, and we haven't forgotten it," he said.

It was like a punch to the stomach for the grandfather, who fell to his knees and looked at the ground. Coushander crouched down beside his son.

"My dear Sakumotsu," he said, noticing how Sakumo didn't wince at the last syllable this time and let slip a small smile. Sakumo was just too lost to even bother.

"Why didn't either one of you save her?!" he cried out. "You two would know how I'd feel if she told you guys that she was my granddaughter!"

"We did and she did tell us. And because...," the eldest took in a deep breath. "We couldn't. But Sakumotsu, you can save her."

Sakumo's lips trembled for a moment, as if he were going to cry. After a few moments, with a shaky voice he said, "How? How can Kakashi and I save Taylor?"

"Get her back to the present as soon as you two can."

"How?"

Suddenly, Coushander disappeared before he could say and Sakumo was left, hanging.

"Dad? Dad? Dad?!" Sakumo awoke with a start and opened his eyes. "Dad!" he cried out.

"Dad?" came a familiar voice.

Sakumo looked up at his son, who was crouched beside him.

"Dad, are you okay? What happened?" Kakashi asked.

Sakumo wasn't sure. The dream he just had was forgotten as soon as he woke up.

"Uhm... A bad dream," Sakumo said, sounding as honest as ever since he was sure it was a bad dream. He sat up and Kakashi nodded.

"Dad, I saw her," he said. "And she spoke to me. All she did was say, "Help me". But before she could tell me why, she disappeared."

Sakumo looked up.

"You saw her too?" he asked. "I saw her right after the lights came back on. She asked me for help as well. I asked her where she was and she told me with 'Coushander', which was my guess since she didn't finish. She just said, 'Coush' which to me meant she was going to say, 'Coushander'."

"Coushander? Who is he?"

"Your grandfather," Sakumo said.

"Where is he now, if she's with him?" Kakashi was eager to get his daughter back.

"Kakashi, your grandfather is dead. He's been dead since I was sixteen. Or was I seventeen? I don't remember now...," he held his head. "And I haven't told Taylor or you for that matter, which has me wondering how she even knew his name."

"I don't know," Kakashi looked out the window. "But at least its a piece of the puzzle as to where she is."

"But we're still missing the big picture," Sakumo said. "There are still many pieces left, and we have to get them, and fast..."

"Yeah...," Kakashi sighed. "Wait, why do you say that?"

"Because," Sakumo narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember. "Taylor said that there isn't much time left. I don't know what she means by that, but I know we need to finish the puzzle and get her back as soon as possible."

Kakashi looked down. "Yeah, you're right."

.

"I don't think I've heard thunder during a snowstorm," Taylor said, taking a sip from her cocoa.

"Yeah well, unfortunately, the power has been knocked out," Coushander said.

"Yeah, I can tell," Taylor said, shivering.

Coushander looked at her.

"If you're cold, please feel free to-"

"I'll be fine."

Sternly, Coushander said, "Please do not argue" and took off his robe, revealing his indigo shirt and pants beneath it. "Please, I'd rather you not get sick again."

The stubborn child stared at Coushander. "I'll be fine, Coushander."

"I insist."

The way Coushander narrowed his eyes and glared at her in seriousness made the girl cower a bit. She lowered her head and tensed her shoulders. His intense stare caused Taylor to shudder and swallow hard. The stubborn child reached her tiny hand over and grabbed the elder's still-warm robe. The eldest let slip an awkward smile as she put his robe on — "We don't want you to get sick again now do we?"

Still cowering in fear of her great-grandfather, the girl swallowed hard again and shook her head. No, she didn't want to get sick again.

"Good," the elder said.

In silence, they sat at the table. Taylor glanced out the window as the snow began falling faster, and she sat there in a daze.

"That first day when we met...," Coushander started. "How come you started walking here?"

Taylor looked up at him. "Huh?"

"After I told you that I wasn't your grandfather, you began walking here."

"This is where I live in the present time," she said. "Your room is where my father would be sleeping and the other room is where my grandfather would sleep and my room in this timeline is the same in the present..."

"Hmm..."

Taylor's eyes darted to her hands and Coushander sighed, not knowing what to say. They went back to sitting in silence.

.

As Taylor prepared for bed, she came across her small summoning scroll. She picked it up and held it gingerly in the palm of her hand.

"Is that a summoning scroll?" asked Saru-Shin.

Taylor nodded. "For my Natsu. I usually summon him on missions and de-summons himself when we finish with whatever we're doing."

"At least he desummons himself afterwards," Saru-Shin said. "Kano's dog- Hairo was his name I think - refused to de-summon himself. Man he was a crazy dog..."

The girl giggled a bit. "I think my grandfather has him, or at least had him once, and I met him."

Saru nodded and Taylor bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood and opened her scroll.

"Whoa, wait are you going to summon him?" he asked.

"I can try," Taylor wiped her blood across the scroll. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Nothing happened. She looked down, blood slowly coming from her thumb. Saru-Shin grabbed her thumb tightly, as if he was trying to stop the bleeding. He took his hand away after a few moments.

"Natsu," she bit her bottom lip in annoyance. "I can't summon you can I?"

"Doesn't look like you can," Saru-Shin said.

Taylor sighed.

"Damn it."

"Go to bed," Saru said in a soft whisper. "Dalzen expects you to be fully rested tomorrow."

Tiredly, she glanced out the window. "We might not be able to practice tomorrow. So much snow...," she whispered, crawling into her bed. "Oh well... Night night, Saru-Shin."

"Night Taylor..."


	7. Haunted

.

Haunted

.

The little girl's ghost followed closely to her father and kept trying to jab him in his back to get his attention. Unfortunately, her hand kept going through her father because she wasn't able to make it where he could feel her touch.

"Daddy," she whined. "Daddy, please tell me you can hear me..."

All she could think about was getting out of the past where she was bound to die unless her father could save her.

"Daddy," she whined again. "Daddy... Please. Please tell me you can hear me."

She bit her bottom lip and used the one and only phrase she used when she desperately needed her father's help. "Daddy, I need help."

Only, Kakashi didn't hear that. Kakashi wasn't really able to see ghosts as much as his daughter could. Occasionally, he did catch a glimpse of a man that looks like his father. But he could easily tell them apart and when he looked again at the man, he would find the man was gone. But other than that, he can't see many ghosts. Taylor forced herself to grab Kakashi's hand and she grabbed his hand tightly. He could feel the tight grip on his and immediately knew it was Taylor. She was the only person allowed to hold his hand like that.

"Taylor?" he called. "Taylor?"

The ghost she's been trying to escape went to attack her and she dodged it. She slid back and widened her eyes when it went for her father, who was looking around, wondering where she was.

"No!" she cried. "Daddy! Its behind you!"

Kakashi didn't hear, which made Taylor jump and push Kakashi down to the ground. Kakashi lost his balance and fell backwards.

"What the-? What was that?!" he exclaimed.

Taylor then became visible to Kakashi.

"Daddy! Daddy, you and Grandpa only have six days," she whispered, knowing he can see her. "December 20, I'm gonna die and there will be no way to get me back at that point."

Kakashi was at a loss for words. He could only reach his hand up to her and try to touch her cheek and stroke it gently like he'd sometimes do when she was in trouble and he'd finally got to her. He was only allowed a moment to stroke her cheek, then she turned her head away from him.

"Wh-Where are you?" the father stumbled a bit in his speech.

"I'm back when Grandpa was 8," she said. "With Great-Grandpa Coushander and Great-Grand Uncle Dalzen, if you would even consider him my uncle. There's a jutsu to get me out of the past, but there's no garentee that you guys will be teleported straight to me. You will have to find me, which shouldn't be too hard since Grandpa Coushander's house is right here in this same exact spot."

She wanted to cry and lay her head down on her father's chest, but she knew she couldn't. Instead, she kept a straight face and her blue eyes were showing her plea for help.

"Hurry, before its too late," she pleaded before disappearing unintentionally from her father's sight.

"Taylor?!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Taylor?!"

There was a painful silence.

"Taylor!" he yelled. "Taylor!"

The ghost of the child he once didn't have to worry much about gently put her hand on her father's cheek.

"Daddy," she whined. "Please..."

As if he heard what she said, looking down Kakashi said, "We will find you, sweetheart. I promise." His voice was shaky, but it was full of determination to find the lost child. It was something that any father would do and say, and he was going to do everything he can to get her. Kakashi was willing to do anything for his little girl.

"Kakashi?" came the voice of his father. "What's up?"

The father rose to his feet and sighed.

"Dad, I know how we can find her," he said, looking at Sakumo. "But, we might have to do some digging."

"Tell me. Tell me everything that just happened," he said. "I know something happened."

Kakashi followed his father and told him everything.

"She verified that she's with your father," he said. "But she says she's only got six days left before she's killed. We have six days to rescue her."

Sakumo looked at Kakashi. "We'll have her back in three."

"I know that, Dad," Kakashi said.

"But, of course we've got the digging around for a jutsu that can take us to the past, where she is, and save her...," Sakumo said. "Maybe four since we'll have to practice the jutsu. I'll talk to Lady Tsunade tomorrow, and don't worry, I've got a trick up my sleeve that she won't resist."

"Good," Kakashi said.

"Now, son, go get some rest. We might have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Sakumo put his hand on his son's back. "And, sweet dreams my son."

Kakashi was surprised. He hadn't heard his father say that in years. The last time he'd said that, Kakashi was just 7. It was the night Sakumo committed suicide.

"Dad, please tell me that last sentence didn't mean goodbye this time," Kakashi said.

"What? What gave you that idea Kakashi?"

"The last time you said that, you'd committed suicide," Kakashi frowned.

"No, I'm not going to commit suicide if that's what you're thinking," Sakumo said. "Do I look depressed to you?"

"N-No," Kakashi stammered.

"I promise, I am fine son," the eldest let slip a wry smile. "You must not be so paranoid. Now, go to bed or I'll drag you into your room myself and tuck you in."

"Oi!" Kakashi did **not** want his father to tuck him in. "I'm not four, Dad. I don't need to be tucked in."

"Good, now go."

"Yes father..."

Kakashi walked to his room and closed the door behind him. All he could think about at this point was his daughter.

Taylor's ghost walked through the door and watched as her father, for the first time in her eyes, tossed and turned in his bed. Her head was tilted to the side ever-so-slightly and her eyes felt heavy like she was going to cry. The ghost of Saru-Shin put his hand on her head and gently rubbed her head. That's when Taylor burst out crying. Ghostly tears streamed down her cheeks and she sobbed softly.

"Why'd it have to be me, Saru-Shin?" she cried.

Saru-Shin then moved his hand down to her back and with the tips of his fingers, he rubbed her back.

"I don't know," he said. "But, you mustn't worry. Your father said it himself, he's going to get you back. He made a promise to you. Your father, from what I have seen, doesn't break his promises to you."

Taylor hugged Saru-Shin tightly.

"Come on," he wiped away the ghostly tears she was shedding "Don't cry. You'll be perfectly fine, I promise."

The little girl's ghost couldn't help but cry and Saru-Shin had to rub her back soothingly until she stopped. It was fifteen minutes before she stopped. Saru-Shin, oddly enough, had grown so fond of the girl that he felt like a father to her almost. Perhaps its because he didn't have kids of his own, and Taylor was the closest he would ever get to a child, even though she is really his great-grand niece.

.

By eight in the morning, there was several inches of snow on the ground outside. Taylor sat up in her bed and looked out the window. The snow came up to her window almost.

"Whoa," she said.

"I watched the snow pile up the entire night," Saru-Shin said.

"Really? How much snow is there?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say about two feet."

"Sheesh." Taylor stood up tiredly, noticing how much she hurt herself the day before. "Oh goddess bless..." she held her side.

"I told you that was a bad idea, especially with Dalzen as your opponent. He doesn't let anyone behind him," he said.

"Uhg, yes I realize this now," Taylor groaned loudly.

"And I told you that you'd feel that fall soon enough."

"Don't remind me."

"That branch was too thin."

"I thought it was about to break off. That's why I tried to haul myself up to the second branch."

"That too."

She straightened her back and sighed.

"So, what do I get to do?" she murmured to herself.

"Lets go out and throw snowba- Oh," Saru sighed. "Never mind."

Taylor looked up with a look of, "You just gave me an idea".

"What's that look about?" he asked.

"Snow..." she said. "I could have a natural snow cone."

Grinning, she dashed out of her room and out to the room and out to the kitchen.

"Uhh which cabinet has the cups," she whispered.

Saru pointed. "That one there."

"Oh," Taylor stood up on her toes and opened the cabinet. Silently, she pulled out a glass and went outside. Taylor looked out into the distance and stood still for a moment, soaking in the view. It was silent outside, except for the sound of her feet against the cold and wet porch as she walked to the edge of the porch. Taylor bent down and scooped up a glassful of the fresh, pure snow. She smiled in delight.

"Mmmm." She bit the top part of the snow cone and swallowed. "I love the taste of snow."

She sat in silence for a moment as she ate the snow.

"Y'know how yesterday you suggested I sing something I know?" she said.

"Yeah?" Saru looked to the girl.

"I thought of something you might like, though I can only remember bits and pieces of it," Taylor looked at him after she covered her feet with the robe.

"I'd like to hear," Saru smiled.

Taylor smiled a bit and took in a deep breath and sung in a soft voice;

"In the darkest hour of the longest night  
If it was in my power I'd step into the light  
Candles on the alter, penny in your shoe  
Walk upon the water - transcendental blues..."

She looked up a bit and smiled. "And that's all I can remember."

"I know that song," Saru said, grinning. "The next part went; Happy ever after 'til the day you die  
Careful what you ask for, you don't know 'til you try  
Hands are in your pockets, starin' at your shoes  
Wishin' you could stop it - transcendental blues."

"Yeah," Taylor grinned.

"You remind me so much of my brother," came a low voice.

Taylor turned around, knowing it wasn't Saru-Shin. That was Coushander.

"Oh gosh," she panicked. "Did I wake you? Oh gosh I'm sorry Coushander!"

"No, no. You didn't wake me," Coushander assured her. "I was already awake and I heard you moving about and then singing, I figured I should just get out of bed."

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good," she said.

The elder noticed the glass with snow in it.

"What's that in your hands?" he asked.

"Oh this?" she held it up. "Its a snow cone of sorts. I can eat the snow as long as its high off the ground like it is right now."

"I see...," Cou said.

They stared out into the distance.

"How high do you think it is?" the eldest asked.

"I give it about two feet," Taylor said.

Coushander nodded.

"It doesn't snow like this," she whispered. She put her hands on the railing for the steps. "Its so early in the season."

"Yeah," Coushander put his hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Now, lets get inside and have breakfast. I'll even make more hot cocoa if you'd like."

The younger Hatake smiled a bit.

"That'd be great, Coushander," she said. "And perhaps I can help you cook?"

They two Hatakes walked inside.

"Of course," the eldest said.

Saru-Shin smiled a bit and followed them. He was glad his brother was getting along with his son's granddaughter.

.

Kakashi woke with a start after his father prodded at his shoulder lightly.

"Huh?" he opened his eyes.

"Kakashi," Sakumo whispered softly.

"Dad?" Kakashi groaned softly, looking outside. "What is it?

"I have access to the jutsu scrolls from Tsunade. I asked if we could glance through to make a lesson for your students, Naruto and Sakura. Yes, I did lie. Also, I told Kiiro and she offered to help us glance through to find the jutsu Taylor was talking about. Grab a scroll or two and a brush and lets go!"

Sakumo jumped up and dashed downstairs. Kakashi stared at his door fame and sighed. _I'll do anything for my daughter_, he thought, sitting up. Shakily, he then stood up and glanced around his room for a scroll and a brush. Once he found the two, he started down to the kitchen where Sakumo and Kiiro stood in wait for him.

"_Ikouyo_," Sakumo said.

"Right," Kakashi followed his father and Kiiro out.

.

Without a doubt, Kakashi and Sakumo were full of determination. As soon as they got to where the jutsu scrolls were held, the three of them grabbed two scrolls each and sat down with a candle in front of them.

"Remember," Sakumo said. "We are only focusing on finding time travel jutsu. Nothing else. Am I clear?"

"Yes Father," Kakashi said.

"Yes Sakumo-Kun," Kiiro said.

"Alright," Sakumo gave a look of pure determination. Kakashi returned the look.

They all began reading the scrolls while the ghost of Taylor sat with her back to them. She was looking back retrospectively at how she had gotten killed.

_It was a cold day, and she and Coushander were heading to the Winter Festival, held inside the village, so Taylor couldn't miss it. Her house was in the forest, so they were not protected by the wall that surrounded the Leaf. They were open for an attack from some dumb ninja who thought they could make it into the village. Suddenly, as they walked, they were attacked. Out of no where, Coushander was pushed down into the ground by what appeared to be the same ninja that sent Taylor into the past._

_"And what was that for?" she asked the ninja. "What was my grandfather doing that pushed you to push him?"_

_"He'll get in my way," the grass ninja said. "In my way of killing you! You weren't supposed to meet your grandfather. I wanted you to be lost and scared like the little chicken you are."_

_"If you knew more about the Hatakes, then you would know that even I won't be so easy to kill," Taylor sneered as she helped Coushander stand back up. "And I'm not a little chicken."_

_ Little Sakumo and Dalzen happened to be nearby at the time. _

_"Dalzen-Sensei," Sakumo said. "I can smell someone who isn't from the Leaf."_

_Dalzen looked down at his student._

_"And I smell that Inoue girl and... is that Dad?!" Sakumo looked up._

_They stood in silence for a few moments and they eventually heard Taylor's high-pitched voice._

_"I can hear Taylor's voice," Dalzen said._

_"She sounds upset," Sakumo said. _

_"No, she sounds like she's-" Dalzen paused. "Fighting someone."_

_They looked at each other and followed Taylor's voice._

_Taylor backflipped in order to dodge the attack and she slid backwards, looking over her shoulder. Where was Coushander? He said he'd be back in three minutes after she told him to get the scythe. _

Taylor's body shook a bit as she thought about what happened.

_Coushander ran back to her with the scythe in his hand. He was running as fast as he could._

_"Taylor! Heads up!" he yelled because he was still rather far from her and he needed her to hear that. She looked at Cou and he tossed her the scythe. She caught it by the handle and whacked the grass ninja in the face. The ninja fell back and then went at her with all his force using his knife. She went to block the attack with Cou's scythe but she was a mere second off, causing the ninja to cut her right arm where she had a scar from the last fight. She made a painted cry and then went and sliced the ninja's arm back._

_Dalzen and Sakumo appeared in the distance. _

_"Dalzen?" Coushander looked at them as they got closer.  
_

_Dalzen looked at Sakumo._

_"Lets go help them," he said._

_But before they could attempt to help her and Coushander, Taylor and the grass ninja had sliced each other's throats with their sharp weapons. Only, Taylor sliced her opponent's head off. He was dead in an instant. Taylor had to suffer until her last breath._

Taylor looked over her shoulder at Sakumo, who cried out in pain.

"Ah! Goddamn it!" he shouted, holding forehead.

"Wha- What's wrong?!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Sakumo trembled slightly.

"My head...," he mumbled. "It is pounding like hell."

"Sakumo," Kiiro said. "Lay down and rest if you have to. Your son and I will be fine on our own."

"Are you guys sure?" Sakumo asked.

Kiiro and Kakashi nodded.

"Of course," they said in unison.

"Alright..." Sakumo glanced around for a place to rest. Taylor looked back at her hands but Sakumo laid down beside her so he wasn't in their way at all. Taylor's ghost gently put her hand on her grandfather's cheek, wanting to feel his comforting warmth. She couldn't feel anything with her sense of touch, everything was numbed.

_Coushander and Dalzen dashed over to her side. Dalzen caught her before she hit the ground, just like he did when they first met. Taylor coughed up blood and then tears began to form in her eyes._

_"Coushander?" she managed to say, much to her surprise._

_Coushander knelt down beside her while Dalzen summoned Hoshu — his very cute owl — and wrote sloppily on a piece of paper he had in his pocket and used a pencil that Taylor had on her person. _

_"Hoshu, take this to Keiko," he commanded his summon, handing him the note. _

_Hoshu gave a curt nod and took the note and flew off with it. Taylor's eyes were heavy and tears kept streaming down her cheek and Dalzen tried to comfort the little girl by wiping them away. She coughed up more blood. _

_"Keiko should be here in less than four minutes," he said. "Everything should be fine then. Don't cry."_

_"I-I-It hurts," she managed to say. Again, it was a surprise to her. "T-To b-b-breathe."_

_"Then, try not to talk. You have to breathe to talk," Coushander said.  
_

_Taylor gasped for breath and coughed up more blood, getting blood on the elder's robe. He took no notice to it._

_"Stay with us," both he and Dalzen said to the girl._

_Taylor clenched her teeth and laid her head against Dalzen's chest. _

_"Dalzen...," she whined softly. "Coushander..."_

_Before she could finish, she took in one last breath and stopped all together, her blue eyes grew dark and lifeless and were closed. Coushander and Dalzen gasped._

_"Shit!" Dalzen exclaimed. "Where's Keiko?!"_

_"I'm right here!" Keiko dropped from a tree behind them. "Coushander, back."  
_

_Coushander stood up and let Keiko sit in his place and she began trying to heal Taylor. She was too late. After five minutes, she had to give up._

_"I was too late," she whispered sadly. "I couldn't save her. I'm sorry."_

_Dalzen and Coushander didn't know what to say. It wasn't her fault, that's for sure. Everything happened so quickly. Dalzen held Taylor in his arms for a few minutes, clinging onto hope that Taylor is going to wake up at any moment and hug them. But, she didn't. Coushander was at a loss for words, and was also clinging onto hope that she'll wake up. After ten minutes, they gave up and took her to the morgue. A few days later, she was buried and only Coushander, Dalzen, Keiko, and Nidaime payed their respects to the twelve-year-old Hatake from the future. Taylor, in her ghost form, was forced to watch alongside Saru-Shin. _

From then on, she watched as her grandfather grew up, and then her father, and then watched as she was born. But, she wasn't reborn in her own body. And she watched as she grew up the same exact way she did. Everything her other self did was something she did. Even wearing the same exact clothes. She drew and wrote. It was her, exactly. And she even watched as herself got lost in the past, but she couldn't go with. She was stuck in the present time, unaffected by most jutsus. Her purpose was to get her father to try and get her back as soon as possible. Taylor sighed softly and looked over her shoulder.

Kakashi opened the scroll and sighed.

"Will we find that jutsu?"

"We should be able to," Kiiro said. "Give it some time Kakashi..."

Sakumo was still laying beside Taylor and he could see her ghost.

"Taylor...," he whispered. "Taylor, is that you?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"Grandpa? You can see me?"

"I can see you sweetie." He smiled tiredly at her.

"Grandpa..." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I want to tell you everything I saw but I can't... I don't know how long you'll be able to see and hear me."

Sakumo nodded.

"Its fine," he whispered, touching her cheek with his hand and wiping away the tears. "You don't have to tell me, I can already see what you've gone through..."

They stared at each other softly, Sakumo smiling reassuringly.

And for a moment, Sakumo had his strange granddaughter back. Everything felt normal and Taylor didn't feel so dead.


	8. Save Me

Part Two

.

Save Me

.

Taylor spent the day in her room, writing stories and drawing and for the most part, napping. It wasn't long before Coushander called her out for supper.

"Taylor?" he knocked softly on the door. "Taylor?

"Huh?" She lifted her head from her little desk and looked at Cou with a soft groan as she stretched.

"Supper?"

Taylor stretched her hands in front of her and rubbed her eyes afterwards.

"Alright..."

Drowsily, she pushed herself to stand up and she walked out to Coushander, then following him to the kitchen.

"Were you asleep?" Cou asked.

"Kinda... sorta... yeah," Taylor said with a slight nod.

The eldest chuckled a bit.

"I see."

Taylor rubbed her eyes roughly.

"So tired..."

Coushander glanced over his shoulder at her.

"You can go back to bed after we eat," he said softly.

"Alright."

She made her bowl of ramen and sat down at the table.

"Didn't you sleep at all last night?" Coushander asked, realizing how tired she was.

Taylor thought back to what time she'd gone to bed the night before.

"I went to sleep at one and woke up at eight...," she said. "So yes and no..."

Taylor slurped up her ramen noodles from her chopsticks and sighed.

"What in the world were you up doing till one?" he asked.

"Writing and drawing Sa- _you_," she said, biting her tongue. It wasn't exactly a lie because she did hang outside the elder's room and drew him while he slept. Saru kept pestering her to draw his little brother with bunny ears; he even posed behind Coushander and did the bunny ears with his fingers.

"It took forever for you to draw him because you kept arguing with me about the bunny ears," Saru said. "I still think you should'a done it."

_I doubt Coushander would agree with you Uncle Saru_, Taylor thought bitterly. _And boy, you guys sound like my characters. Except Kenta isn't much like Cou except that they both feel awful about their brothers' deaths and the way their hair is._

Though, Taylor ignored Saru and didn't say anything. _Wise choice_, Saru thought. _I should've not said anything to her but, I really can't help it._

"Yeah, I'm sorry Cou," she said, folding her arms. "I shouldn't stay up late like that... I just... I wanted to draw something. It kept me up until I finally drew something... And that something was you, asleep..."

She looked at him and thought he didn't believe her, so she jumped up and dashed to her room and returned to the kitchen with her sketchbook. With a bit of reluctance, Taylor handed it to him. Coushander glanced over it.

"Really? My head is bigger than my body?" the elder asked.

'What?" Taylor looked and laughed, shaking her head. "No, Grandpa Coushander. Not really!"

She giggled.

"Don't you know that in real life your head isn't competing with your shoulders for width? That's a chibi of you. Chibis are supposed to be cute and have big heads and small bodies."

Taylor glanced up and then looked back at him. "Its a... style of manga. As I just said a few moments ago, in real life your head doesn't compete with your shoulders for width. Everything is proportionate. With chibis, everything is out of proportion. Big eyes, big head, itty-bitty body, prolly big hands and feet depending on who's drawing the chibi. With me, I try to keep the hands and feet normal-ish."

"Chibi," Coushander repeated the term slowly, glancing back at the drawing. He nodded, seeing how the drawing makes sense. He's only seen the more realistic drawings she's done, not the seriously adorable ones.

"Now, if I were to draw myself in this style, since I'm a girl I'd have to reduce my waist and torso so much that I couldn't have lungs, but with drawing guys you don't have to do that," she said, then looking at her great-grandfather worriedly. "Oh goodness, I must be boring you with stuff on art... _Gomen nasai_."

Coushander shook his head.

"Its fine...," he said, handing the girl her sketchbook back.

Taylor took her sketchbook, sat it down beside her, and sat down, going back to eating her ramen. She finished her ramen and sighed.

"I'm just gonna get out of your hair now," she said, taking the bowl to the sink. "_Sumimasen_."

She bowed and took her sketchbook into her room and closed the door behind her. Sighing, she sat down on her bed and stared out the window. The blizzard had stopped, but the snow was so high that there was no way in hell Dalzen would be able to get to them if he wanted. And no way for them to get out. Taylor thought for a moment. _Would Coushander be fine with me clearing the pathway? Does he even have a shovel?_ The little girl slid her door open.

"Grandpa Coushander?" she called. "Do we have a shovel?"

"Yes," the elder replied. "Why? What do you need it for?"

Taylor dashed into her room and slipped her gloves on and slid into her black jacket, then she dashed out to the living room and slipped into her sandals.

"What are you going to do?" her great-grandfather asked.

"Its in the work shed?"

"Yes."

Taylor dashed to the back door and opened it. Her great-grandfather repeated himself.

"To clear the snow off the path," she groaned. "What if we need to get into the village for an emergency? Like, I pass out for whatever reason that only the gods know?"

"But aren't you still recovering from yesterday?" Cou asked.

"I don't care," Taylor said stubbornly. "I always clear the path after a snowstorm, even if I'm in a ton of pain. I'm stubborn, yes I know."

Coushander didn't want her to hurt herself even more because only God knows how many times she's tripped over her own feet or walked into the table during her stay so far. But, he couldn't disagree with her. If something happened and they needed to get out of the house, how would they get past the snow without a path cleared?

"Fine," he agreed with much reluctance. "But, I will check on you every thirty minutes. Am I clear?"

Taylor grinned.

"Of course," she said.

"And you better not catch another cold," he added shortly.

"Eh, knowing my luck, it'll happen anyway," Taylor said with a wry chuckle.

Taylor dashed outside and forced her way to the tool shed. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from the house. Taylor opened the door and walked in. Her whole body was shaking from the cold, but she tried to control the shivering, which she can't do very well. Then, she sneezed. _Gonna catch another cold, either which way Grandpa Coushander_, she thought. _And I can handle a cold. _

Taylor turned on the light and grabbed the shovel. Then, she turned it back out and hauled the shovel over her shoulder and headed back to the house. She walked out to the front and started clearing a path to the village.

Just like he'd promised, Coushander opened the front door and peered outside to check on Taylor, who'd almost cleared three feet of snow.

"How're you doing?" he asked with a bit of caution so he wouldn't startle the girl.

She reached behind her and gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright..."

But Coushander didn't move. Taylor stabbed the shovel into the snow and lifted the shovel up shakily, then glanced over her shoulder with a disconcerting smile.

"I'm fine," she said softly.

"Alright... If you say so," her great-grandfather said.

Taylor looked back and continued working. Coushander was sure that something was off, but if there was something wrong wouldn't Taylor tell him? He nodded, but there was some doubt, some uncertainty to that nod. Silently and wearily, he closed the door. Maybe when he goes to check on her again, she'll tell him that she's exhausted and needs to stop.

Another thirty minutes flew by and Taylor had cleared nearly twelve feet away from the house, still shoveling. Coushander opened the door and frowned. The child was pushing herself a bit too hard.

"You should perhaps take a break," Cou called out to her. She looked over her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she responded. But even then, she couldn't believe her own lie.

Coushander let out a heavy sigh.

"What if I tell you I'm not suggesting you take a break, but ordering you to take one?"

Taylor stopped and stood straight.

"Then I'm not going to disobey you," she said.

"Good. Now, come inside and warm up," the eldest Hatake told the younger Hatake.

Taylor sighed a bit as she tried controlling her breathing.

"So cold," she whispered. "I'm so tired... Thank the gods Coushander came out when he did, otherwise I wouldn't have the strength to stop myself from going overboard. I would pass out."

"You should go in now before you pass out," Saru said. "You were working yourself too hard. Plus, with what happened yesterday with the small spar with Dalzen, you have got to be exhausted."

She nodded, then tried to pick up the shovel only to realize what little strength she had left. Coushander sighed heavily and slipped his sandals on. Silently, he walked out and down the path that Taylor had cleared so far.

"Taylor," he started with a sigh. "Is something the matter?"

She handed him the shovel.

"Can you carry that back?" she asked timidly.

"Of course," Cou said. "And I'm going to take that as a, "I need to go inside and rest for a few hours"."

Taylor nodded.

"Y-Yeah...," she said.

"If you still want to tomorrow, you can come back out in the evening and continue. But, for now I'd feel better if you rested. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Taylor mumbled softly with a soft sneeze.

"And, I'm so going to make you drink the medicine," Coushander grumbled softly.

"Fine." There was no point in arguing with her great-grandfather. He was going to make her cower in fear and give up like he did the other day. It was no wonder to Taylor where Sakumo got his rather scary looks from.

Coushander silently led Taylor to the house and leaned the shovel against the house, then they went in and kicked their sandals off. The eldest closed the door after Taylor was inside and his gaze fell down to the girl.

"Go to your room," he said. "I'll be there with your medicine — mmm never mind that, you need a warm bath from sweating out in that cold weather don't you? Warm up first, you must be extremely cold. Change into some clean clothes so you're not sleeping in —"

"Coushander!" Taylor groaned. "Stop it!"

She sighed heavily, exhaling from her mouth into her hands.

"I'll take a hot shower, I'll take the medicine and make myself some of that tea I got in town before the storm," she said. "You just don't..."

She shook her head. _Don't have to act so much like Grandpa_, she thought walking sadly to the bathroom.

"What did I do wrong?" Coushander called out to the girl, who ignored him as she went into the bathroom. _Just don't what_, Coushander wondered. _  
_

After her thirty-minute shower, she dried herself off and felt lost and scared for a moment as she thought about her father and grandfather.

"I want my daddy," she whined softly as she wrapped her towel around her chest.

The poor girl began to wonder when she will get home, if at all.

"Dad, where are you?" she whispered. "Help me... None of this is right... I'm screwing up the timeline; what if I'm hurting you and grandpa and I don't even realize it?! Please... help me...

"Taylor, are you okay?" Coushander asked, knocking on the door softly on the door, having heard her soft whispers.

She wiped away a tear.

"I'm fine," she lied. "A-okay."

.

Sakumo woke up laying in an awkward position; body twisted slightly, one hand was reached out to where Taylor's hand was and his other arm under his head and his neck turned to the side. Silently, he sat up and winced as his back screamed at him for sleeping the way he did. The eldest groaned softly as he stood to join his son and Kiiro.

"Have you guys found anything yet?" he asked tiredly.

Kakashi glanced up.

"No, not yet..."

"How many scrolls have you guys gone through already?"

"Forty out of... Four hundred some-odd scrolls?"

Sakumo sighed.

"We need to take a break," he said.

Saru-Shin lightly tapped Taylor's shoulder.

"Look, your ojiisan is awake. See if he can still see you," he said.

She glanced over her shoulder at Sakumo.

"Grandpa," she whispered.

Saru-Shin watched her.

"Grandpa," she said a bit louder. "Grandpa!"

Sakumo looked at Taylor and smiled a bit.

"Please take a break...," she whispered. "_Please_."

"Taylor would want us to take a break," he said softly.

She smiled. _You need it_, she thought.

"Please," she said. "Rest and eat, you guys have six days, plenty of time for you guys to rest and eat and get things done."

"Lets go eat," Sakumo suggested. "I'm sure we're all hungry. Hmm, Ichiraku's?"

Kiiro and Kakashi nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Kiiro said.

The little girl's ghost smiled a little.

"Love you, Grandpa...," she whispered.

Sakumo smiled, at both Kakashi and Kiiro, and the ghost of his granddaughter.

"Lets go," he said.

"Right."

.

Taylor laid in her bed and couldn't get up unless she needed to.

"I want to clear more snow...," she murmured to Saru-Shin.

"Coushander told you that you had to stay in bed," he reminded her.

"I know," she groaned. "Hmmm... Can you hand me my—"

"No, go to sleep," Saru said. "Rest."

Taylor sighed.

"Fine..." Saru flipped the light switch.

"Good night," he said.

"Night..." Taylor rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.

First thing she did when she woke up was dress properly to go outside into the cold weather to continue clearing the path.

"And where do you think you're going?" Saru-Shin demanded.

She zipped up her jacket.

"I'm gonna go continue clearing the snow," she said.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am. I don't want Coushander to have to do it himself when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself."

"You pushed yourself too hard last night."

"I'm fine!"

Taylor and Saru both glared at each other for a moment, then Taylor walked out and walked to the front of the house and slipped her sandals on.

"You're going to hurt yourself and upset Coushander," Saru said.

"I'm gonna clear the path Uncle Saru," she said. "I'll be fine as long as you are watching me."

Saru sighed.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

She smiled softly and opened the front door, then went outside and grabbed the shovel.

"Take breaks this time," he said. "Please."

Taylor nodded.

"Yes Uncle Saru..."

She closed the door behind her and walked to where she'd stopped the night before and continued. While she worked, she hummed random songs to herself. When she'd cleared a good four yards, as she promised, she took a break.

"Good girl," Saru said as she walked back to the house.

Taylor nodded.

"Hmm, is it bad that now all I can think about is a nice, hot bowl of soup?" she asked as she got onto the steps.

"Nah," Saru said. "You're just so cold you're thinking about something hot."

"Hmm... I wonder if Coushander is awake," Taylor said, stepping onto the porch.

"Probably," Saru said as his niece leaned the shovel against the house. "But I don't advise going inside to see unless you can come up with a believable lie. But even then, lying to Coushander is a bad idea."

"Oh don't worry, I'll think of something if I need to," she said.

Taylor opened the front door and took her sandals off before going inside. She peered inside. No sign of Cou being awake. Silently, she dropped her sandals by Coushander's and closed the door quietly. Swiftly, she got out of her jacket and ran it to her room where she carefully hung the jacket on the back of the chair, then she slipped into the robe Coushander handed her the other day. Not too soon later, she heard his door open and she panicked. She knew he would check to see if she was in bed, so she sat in her bed and pulled the covers over her. Then, she reached over to her notebook and grabbed it._ Damn she's quick_, Saru thought.

The sound of Coushander's soft footsteps grew louder as he approached her room. Taylor picked up her pencil and pretended to not notice him when he stopped by her room.

"Taylor."

She looked up.

"Morning Grandpa Coushander," she said.

The elder glanced around her room and then looked back at Taylor, narrowing his eyes. He knew something was up.

"I heard the front door open," he said. "Did you go outside?"

Taylor felt a bead of sweat roll down her cheek from her forehead.

"Uhm, I don't know what you're talking about," she lied. "Perhaps you were just hallucinating?"

"Damn!" Saru exclaimed. "When did Dalzen get here?!" He had to laugh.

Taylor gulped down a grin. _Haha, about five seconds ago_, she thought.

Coushander stared at her in slight disbelief. _Yeah, I can tell she's been hanging around Dalzen a little too often._

Taylor had to crack a smile and Coushander looked at her coat.

"There's snow on your coat...," he said.

_Shit_, she thought. _He caught me!_

"Alright alright, I went outside," she said. "But only because I wanted a little bit of snow."

She shook her head.

"But uhm, Coushander, would you mind making some chicken soup like you did the other day?"

Coushander nodded.

"Of course. And stay in bed until I come get you," he said.

Taylor nodded.

"Of course."


	9. Its all I can do

.

9. Its all I can do

.

Sakumo spent the next day searching through the scrolls for the time jutsu. By eleven a.m. December 18, he'd found a scroll on it and began copying it down on his scroll. By noon, he was almost done with copying down the jutsu. But before he could finish, Lady Tsunade came in, looking very unhappy.

"You lied," she said. "You said you were working on a lesson for your son's team. I talked to them today and they had no idea about it and they haven't even trained with Kakashi in a few months."

Sakumo rolled up his scroll and frowned. _Damn it, I was caught_, he thought. _What do you have to say for yourself__?_ That was something he'd thought years ago when his father caught him in his fields.

"Sorry," he said without thinking. No, he wasn't sorry at all. Why did he say it then? Sakumo shook his head. Who knows. Old habit perhaps.

"Tell me why you need these scrolls? I want the truth, and nothing but the truth."

"I'm doing this for my granddaughter," he said in a soft, but serious tone. He glared up at the hokage. "The granddaughter that no one other than me, my son and the art store owner, Kiiro, can remember."

Before the Hokage could speak up, the grandfather continued.

"And if we don't bring her back soon, she will die," he said. "Lady Tsunade, she will die in my past if we don't hurry. History would be changed forever and Taylor will never have been born in this time, she'll be assumed to be my sister in that time. In time, I'll forget about her and Kakashi and Kiiro will never have known her."

"Sakumo you lied to me."

"I had to do it," he said. "All because you would not have believed me if I straight up said, 'I need to find my granddaughter before she gets killed'."

"You're right, I don't believe you," Tsunade said. "So why in the world would you even bother lying straight to my face to ask me if you and your son and Oshiro could look at the scrolls if you knew I would catch you?"

"Because I knew it was going to be worth it!" Sakumo exclaimed. "I love Taylor and I will do anything for her. Be mad at me all you want, Tsunade. And if you want to punish me for lying and going through the scrolls and using the forbidden jutsu, fine."

He sighed angrily.

"I realize she's been wiped from your memory so you don't understand me, but she hasn't been erased from mine and I will fight to keep my memories of her and to bring her back! I will use that damn jutsu if it means I can get my son's daughter back."

"Sakumo Hatake," Tsunade said. "You realize that you will be no longer a shinobi if you use that jutsu."

Taylor stared at Tsunade as if she had three heads. Was she serious about demoting her grandfather to just a civilian?

"Grandpa you can't let her do this!" she cried. "If you're no longer a shinobi— "

"At this point, I don't care if I'm no longer a shinobi," Sakumo narrowed his eyes as he slid his scroll stealthily into his holster for his sabre. "As long as I'll be able to get my granddaughter back, I'm fine. That's all I care about."

Tsunade frowned.

"Alright then."

"You'll remember her when we bring her back," Sakumo said, walking past the hokage and stopping at the entrance.

Tsunade frowned, wondering if this girl was worth losing his career as a shinobi over.

When the hokage said nothing, Sakumo said, "Yes, I'm even willing to risk my career as a shinobi for my granddaughter. I don't care, as long as I can be sure she's safe."

Again, Tsunade said nothing so Sakumo left. When he met up with Kakashi and Kiiro, he handed them the scroll.

"I'm no longer a shinobi," he said. "I was caught and I told her that I was going to do the jutsu that apparently is forbidden. So, she took my status as a shinobi. Now, I'm just a civilian. You're welcome."

Startled, Kakashi took the scroll.

"And I don't care as long as we can bring Taylor back to our time and make sure she's safe. I'll risk anything for your child, Kakashi," he said. "And uhm, I'll do the jutsu since I've already told the hokage that I'll be the one doing it, but in any case I want you to glance over it in case push comes to shove."

Kakashi nodded.

"Of course."

"Lets go home and start practicing," Sakumo said.

Kiiro sighed.

"I need to go open the store, sorry guys."

"Its fine," Sakumo said. "Go on, Kiiro."

She smiled a bit.

"Bring that sweet girl back," she said. "And when she gets back, I'll have a present for her."

Sakumo and Kakashi nodded.

"Right."

They turned around and dashed off.

.

Taylor spent the day clearing snow, with fifteen minute breaks in between of course. It wasn't till three that she finally stopped for the day.

"Phew." She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I need to stop, I think I just passed my limit for the day. I can't continue on."

"Good idea," Saru-Shin said.

Taylor glanced over her shoulder.

"I'm so far from the house, a good kilometer or so," she sighed. "I should head back now while I've got the strength."

Saru nodded.

Silently, Taylor began her trek back to the house. She walked slowly, starting to realize how exhausted she was and how tired her limbs were. Every step she took, the closer she got to collapsing and passing out. Before long, she dropped her shovel and collapsed at the halfway point she marked for herself.

"Saru-Shin...," she whispered, then she shouted as loud as she could before she passed out, "Coushander!"

Coushander just opened the front door to check on her when Taylor shouted his name. Without a second thought, he slipped his sandals on and dashed outside to find her.

Saru crouched down beside his niece.

"Taylor," he said. "Taylor wake up."

No response from her. She was unconscious. Fantastic; not. He looked over his shoulder and saw Coushander running towards them so he stood up. The elder knelt down beside his great-granddaughter.

"I knew it," he said. "I knew she would push herself over her own limits like this... I just knew."

Saru watched as his brother slipped his arms under Taylor's unconscious body and as he lifted her up. When he was sure Taylor was secure in his arms, Coushander headed back to the house. _Taylor really knows how to push herself beyond her own limits_, he thought bitterly.

Saru-Shin sighed heavily. _Taylor, I'm gonna stop you the next time you want to push yourself like this_, he thought. _I'll be sure to remind you of this._

When Coushander got inside the house, he laid his great-granddaughter down on the couch and sighed heavily. _Let her sleep it off_, he thought. _She's exhausted_. Sighing again, Coushander walked off to start supper.

Before bed, Coushander took Taylor into her room, knowing full well she wasn't going to wake up any time soon. Carefully, he laid her down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her up to her shoulders. _Sakumotsu_, he thought. _Do you really let your granddaughter overexert herself like this?_ Wouldn't Sakumo know any better than to let his granddaughter overexert herself?

Perhaps he does know better and Taylor really doesn't do this very often. With all that's happened to her, could it just be she's restless and really can't help herself? Yeah, lets go with that.

Cou stood up and walked out of her room, but he stopped in the doorframe and glanced over his shoulder at the little girl. Even in her sleep, she had an expression of fear or worry on her face and it actually bothered him. He thought back to the other night when she'd said, but not finished, "Just don't". Why did she say that? Was it because he was reminding her of her grandfather some how? Maybe.

Coushander glanced back and closed the door behind him.

She woke up at eight in the morning the next day when Coushander walked in to check on her. He'd touched her forehead lightly and yanked his hand away when Taylor made a soft groan.

"Are you awake?" he whispered softly.

In answer to his question, she opened her eyes and turned her head to the side to look at him. Then, she tried to sit up but her whole body screamed at her in pain.

"_Itai!_" she cried, wincing in pain. "Ow... ow... _Shit_!"

"Don't sit up," Coushander held his hand out to make her lay back down.

She huffed in slight irritation but she laid back down.

"What happened? How long was I asleep for? What time is it because I am really hungry."

"Okay, okay, one question at a time," Cou said, taking a deep breath. "You collapsed from exhaustion, so that's why you're in pain. You prolly slept more than twelve hours, lets be honest. And... Well its eight and I just woke up so give me thirty minutes to make your breakfast."

He sighed.

"But first, it seems like you have a fever — more or less its my fault because I let you work outside in the cold without proper cold-weather gear on — so I need to go find the medicine."

"Bathroom," Taylor said. "You left it in the bathroom the other day... _itai_..."

Coushander nodded and walked off to the bathroom. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Great," she thought out loud. "He ain't letting me out of bed for the next few days unless I can convince him to take me to the winter festival in the village..."

"Your fault," came Saru-Shin. "You're the one who didn't take a break for another hour, which wasn't what you were supposed to do."

Taylor nodded.

"I know."

They watched as Coushander walked past her room to go to get to the a table spoon to pour the medicine into for her to drink.

"I'll convince him," she said. "I'm sure I can."

Coushander walked in, pouring the medicine into the spoon.

"Try not to spit it out this time," he said.

"Oi... I have a hard time keeping some medicines down, especially the strong stuff. I can't help it," Taylor murmured.

"Well, try not to get it on me if you do it again," he said, kneeling down carefully so he wouldn't spill the medicine. "Open."

She wanted to resist, but at this point resistance was futile so Taylor had to open her mouth for Cou. Cautiously, he moved the spoon up to her bottom lip and tilted it ever-so-slightly so that the bitter liquid would pour into her mouth. She resisted the urge to spit it out, so she was stuck with a stupid expression on her face. When the spoon was empty, she let a bit of the medicine slide down her throat so that it would seem like she actually drank it. Coushander actually believed she'd swallowed all of it so he smiled a bit.

"Good girl," he said, standing up. "I'll just leave this stuff by your bed and make breakfast."

He sat the bottle and spoon down on the nightstand and left. After he'd shut the door and walked down to the kitchen, Taylor stood up and opened her window and coughed out the medicine.

"Yuck!" she exclaimed hoarsely. "What in the hell did he give me?!"

In pain, she closed the window and jumped back into the bed. Silently, she rolled over onto her side to face the nightstand and she grabbed the bottle and read it: _Nai-Kueru _(ni-quell).

"Yuck!" she exclaimed again. "Nai-Kueru is the worst medicine out there! What is he trying to do, punish me? Even my father isn't so cruel as to buy this stuff and shove it down my throat."

She grabbed her throat and resisted the urge to throw it up. After a few moments, she laid down width-wise on her bed, not caring that her legs and her head was hanging over the sides of the bed.

"Uhg, thanks for making me feel ten-times worse than I felt before. Yuck, what the hell is Coushander thinking?"

"He probably doesn't know how awful the medicine tastes because this is a new brand of medicine," Saru said.

"Whoever invented this stuff needs to be killed," Taylor said.

"I'll just take your word for it," Saru said, smiling wryly at her.

Taylor's stomach churned.

"Y'know, I'm not so hungry anymore," she grumbled.

.

It was a long night of restlessness for Kakashi. They had the jutsu to get Taylor, but they had no way of know if it will work. At eight a.m., he gave up sleeping and crawled out of bed. Tiredly, he dragged himself out of his room and he went to Taylor's room. He didn't know why, exactly, seeing as how she wasn't there. All was silent, and the silence was unnerving to Kakashi for once. He glanced around the room, not sure what he was looking for. Then, he found her Lucky Cat doll on her bed. He wasn't there before, Kakashi noticed. It took him a minute to realize Taylor's ghost had moved the doll there as a hint as to what he can do. He saw her arm move towards the doll, and then he saw her completely.

Without thinking, Kakashi picked it up.

"Use the jutsu on Nyanko," his daughter's ghost said in hopes he could hear. He did hear it.

"How will we know if it worked?" he asked.

"Trust your gut," she said. "When you feel like you trust it enough, you and Grandpa use it on yourselves. It'll work, I promise. I believe in you guys."

Taylor could feel her built up emotions leak through the barricades she built and she felt like crying at that point.

"Please," she whined. "Trust yourself, Daddy. If you can't trust yourself, think about how much I trust you because you damn well know I never have doubted you. But, I want you to use Nyanko as a way of assuring me in the past. Tell me that you're coming, and I'll be relieved."

Kakashi nodded.

"Of course," he said as his stomach growled.

"After you eat," Taylor said with a smile. "You can't do the jutsu on an empty stomach."

"Yes Mom," he groaned.

Taylor grinned.

"Of course."

And for a moment, Kakashi had his silly little girl back. Kakashi let slip a wry smile as he turned around.

"You're a good child," he said, looking over his shoulder. "I love you, Taylor."

"I love you too, Daddy," she responded. "Now go on. Make breakfast for you and Grandpa."

"Yes Taylor."

Kakashi looked forward and walked downstairs with his daughter's Nyanko doll. Taylor sighed.

"There is no doubt in my heart that you will succeed, Dad," she whispered. "Don't worry. You will."


End file.
